The Physics Post

The recent claim of ambient-pressure room-temperature superconductivity in LK-99 has generated significant excitement and attention within the scientific community. In this blog post, we will explore the findings of two research teams from Beihang University in China and CSIR-National Physical Laboratory in India, who conducted cross-verifications to ascertain the superconducting nature of LK-99. Before delving into those research results, let's first understand the basic concept of superconductors.  What are the requirements to be a superconductor?  Superconductors exhibit two crucial properties: zero electrical resistance below a certain transition temperature and the Meissner effect, which excludes external magnetic fields from the superconductor.  1) Zero Electrical Resistance:  In regular conductors like copper wires, we encounter electrical resistance, which leads to energy loss and scattering of electrons as they move through the material. However, in superc...

The pursuit of room temperature superconductors has been a long-standing challenge in the scientific community due to their transformative applications in various fields. Recently, a team of Korean researchers led by Sukbae Lee and Jihoon Kim reported a remarkable discovery in the realm of superconductivity. They claim to have identified a novel material, dubbed LK-99 after the initials of the lead researchers, which exhibits superconducting behavior at room temperature and ambient pressure. The study detailing this groundbreaking finding has been published in the "Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology" (Vol. 33, No. 2, 2023, pp. 61-70). This revelation, if validated, could potentially revolutionize the field of superconductivity and open up new avenues for practical applications. Superconducting Phenomenon: Superconductors are materials that, below a certain critical temperature, display the remarkable property of zero electrical resistance, leading t...