Investors ＂cool down＂ room temperature superconductivity： the authenticity of the experiment can not be guaranteed, and it will be far from the formation of the tuyere.

　　Interface journalist | Li Jingya

　　Interface news editor |

　　On July 23rd, South Korean scholars Sukbae Lee, Ji-Hoon Kim and Young-Wan Kwon published papers, claiming that they had successfully discovered the first room temperature and atmospheric pressure superconductor LK-99, which quickly triggered the industry to follow up.

　　LK-99 is a kind of lead-apatite structure, and copper ions are used to replace lead ions to generate stress, so that it can show superconductivity below about 127 degrees Celsius under normal pressure. This is a catalyst event that the superconducting industry once again ushered in after the Ranga Dias superconducting incident in the United States in March.?

　　Judging from the reaction of the A-share market, the spillover effect of a series of experimental events is obvious. Recently, the A-share superconducting sector has frequently ushered in a sharp rise in opening, and the national cable inspection, Zhongfu Industry and Bailey Electric have been trading daily for two consecutive days, and many companies have also issued statements on the concept of superconductivity.

　　Room temperature superconductivity attracts much attention because once it is realized, it will profoundly change the existing energy system, transportation system, information processing and transmission system, and bring great progress in the surrounding medical field and controlled nuclear fusion field. Guo Ming Tan, an analyst at Tianfeng International Securities, even thinks that if the future normal temperature and pressure superconductors can be successfully commercialized, it will also have a subversive impact on the product design in the field of calculators and consumer electronics. According to the data of Guotai Junan Securities, low-temperature superconducting materials account for more than 90% of the global superconducting materials, and room-temperature superconducting materials are in the early stage of industrialization, and it is expected that the proportion will increase to 25% in 2030.?

　　Liu Yisong, a partner of Runtu Investment, told Interface News that before the industry paid attention to commercial superconducting materials, it now paid attention to room temperature superconductivity, all of which were seeking ways to manufacture a large number of superconducting materials at a lower cost. The commercialization of commercial superconducting materials and room temperature superconducting materials will be applied in the same scene. With the breakthrough of room temperature superconducting materials, the application potential of the original superconducting materials in these scenes can be greatly released. As a head investor in the primary market who has long been concerned about frontier science and materials, Liu Yisong has invested in polymer composites, ceramic-based composites and other projects in recent years.

　　However, similar to the experimental fate of Dias, the protagonist of the room temperature superconducting storm in March, many academic experts questioned the Korean team experiment for the first time. According to The Paper, Professor Wen Haihu from the School of Physics of Nanjing University said that the data from the Korean team were not enough to show that the material was superconducting, and its so-called superconductivity was probably an illusion. Jin Zhijian, director of Shanghai High-temperature Superconducting Materials and Systems Engineering Research Center, shared a similar view in the live broadcast. He said that South Korea's "LK-99" crystal is not sure to be a completely superconducting material, and even if the material has superconductivity, it cannot be used immediately.

　　At the same time, the scientific research teams from all over the world quickly reappeared the Korean team experiment, and the new news was constantly updated, most of which were domestic teams.

　　Up to now, three teams from Beihang University, Qufu Normal University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology have completed the experiment.

　　On the morning of August 3rd, the interface news reported the experimental results of reappearing LK-99 in Qufu Normal University. Liu Xiaobing, a professor at the School of Physical Engineering of Qufu Normal University, told the interface news reporter that his team conducted a preliminary resistance test on the diamagnetic sample synthesized by the Korean team before, and found that the sample still had a large resistance value in the low temperature range from normal temperature to 50K(-223.16℃). During the test, there was no sharp drop or zero resistance, which was the expected zero resistance characteristic of room temperature superconductivity.

　　The excitement of the industry is understandable, but if we return to the fact itself, if the authenticity of an experiment can't be judged, it is still far from room temperature superconductivity becoming a real outlet.

　　Compared with room temperature superconductivity, which exploded in China in recent days, foreign academic circles and investor circles reacted coldly to this. "There is no strong theoretical basis to support it. The experiment of Dias team in March ended the same as the incident in July. The paper did not give clear data and experimental conditions, and the orthodox academic circles did not accept it." Liu Yisong observed.

　　Even if the room temperature superconducting materials have been verified by many laboratories, it is impossible to judge the commercialization landing time. The unanimous judgment formed by the industry is that the core work of commercialization of room temperature superconductivity can only be completed by scientists, and the time cannot be predicted.

　　"Now these experiments are far from making breakthroughs, farther from industrialization, and have little connection with the primary market." Liu Yisong recently visited many top superconducting experts in China. The consistent view he collected is that the new material development industry in room temperature superconductivity has been doing, and new papers are being issued. "Everyone is more disciplined, so there is nothing to explode in the public eye."

　　Guo Ming also pointed out in the TF Securities research report that there is no visibility in the commercialization of HTS at present.

　　Another core problem hidden behind the room temperature superconducting experiment is the lack of high temperature superconducting mechanism. Several experts and scholars told Interface News that the recent so-called room-temperature superconducting physics experiments were not verified by the results at first, and then they were divorced from the previous superconducting theoretical basis (BCS theory). The experiments of the Korean team and China University of Science and Technology were very accidental, and the follow-up could not help form the basis of theoretical guidance.

　　The following is an interview summary of Liu Yisong by Interface News:

　　Interface News: Recently, many laboratories around the world are reproducing the experiments of the Korean team. What is the reproduction in scientific experiments?

　　Liu Yisong: Reproduction in scientific experiments is to realize the experimental process according to the consistent material formula, consistent technology and experimental conditions mentioned in published papers, and achieve all the performance parameters mentioned in the papers.

　　For the LK-99 experiment conducted by the Korean team, the reproduction experiment conducted by the Huazhong team in bilibili showed some diamagnetism to some extent, but whether this diamagnetism was caused by superconductivity has not been proved, and no resistance test has been done. More complete tests are needed to prove the reproduction results.

　　Interface News: Is the threshold for reproducing the research results of the Korean team high?

　　Liu Yisong: On the whole, the experimental conditions and process materials system of the Korean team are simple and common, so it is not difficult to reproduce. Even if what they say in their paper is true, the team that can do the reproduction experiment cannot be classified as the top in domestic technical ability. In fact, there are many schools, including scientific research teams, that can make reappearance in China.

　　In fact, I watched the live broadcast of Huake's experiment the afternoon before yesterday, and the experimental process and results didn't excite me, because the overall experimental results are still far from the performance of superconducting materials at room temperature that the industry wants to see.

　　Interface News: If the Korean team's paper is confirmed, what will be the specific impact on the superconducting industry? Can the commercialization process of room temperature superconductivity be instigated?

　　Liu Yisong: The paper of the Korean team has brought new ideas to the industry, which has been developed outside the traditional first-generation and second-generation low-temperature material systems, and more experiments can be done on the new material systems to develop in the future.

　　However, this time, the South Korean team did not significantly promote commercialization. After all, the authenticity of theory and experiment has not been confirmed. If we can make a breakthrough in the material system in the future, and achieve simple technology and simple materials, we can realize the synthesis of the material system, which will obviously promote commercialization. Prior to this, the whole experimental conditions, production conditions and use conditions were harsh.

　　However, commercialization has little to do with the primary market, and it is mainly done by scientists, and the time cannot be predicted. Generally speaking, the direction of the material system proposed by the Korean team is worthy of further research by scientists, but it is far from breakthrough and industrialization.

　　This experiment is consistent with the experiment of Dias team in the United States a few months ago, and there is a more core discussion point: the theoretical guidance of high temperature superconductivity is still missing. Breakthroughs in physics often rely on experiments to guide the theory, and experiments are behind the theory. The discovery of superconducting materials is exactly this process, but the whole superconducting theory is not particularly mature at present. Moreover, from ultra-low temperature to low temperature, superconducting materials have broken the theoretical foundation established by the previous three scientists. What we can do now is to make more attempts from the material system.

　　The Korean team has completely detached from all the foundations of the past knowledge of superconducting materials to form an experimental result. On this basis, there are not many theories that can be summarized. However, physical experiments that are divorced from theoretical guidance are often based on luck, which does not have universal demonstration, and the authenticity can not be guaranteed, which will be far from the formation of the tuyere.

　　Interface News: How is the research progress of superconducting materials in China? What is the ecological layout of superconducting side?

　　Liu Yisong: China is not backward in the research of superconducting materials. In 1987, scientist Zhao Zhongxian achieved a breakthrough in Yttrium-barium-copper-oxygen materials, raising the critical superconducting temperature to over 90 Kelvin. Up to now, the second generation superconducting materials have been supplied in small batches in some scientific research fields.

　　Generally speaking, China has kept a stable follow-up with the international first line in the research of superconducting materials, but there has not been a breakthrough in room temperature superconductivity. Industrialization, the first generation of superconducting materials in China has been applied in batches, and the second generation of materials has been applied in small scale.

　　There are many teams in China who make superconducting materials, but it is still the above reason to enter the room temperature superconducting system. Because the theory is not mature enough, there are few in China who do this direction. More strictly speaking, there are basically no teams actually doing room temperature superconductivity, even few teams doing this theoretical or experimental research.

　　Room temperature superconductivity is not a mature theoretical guiding direction. If domestic teams come up with results, they will hope that the theory will be more mature, so the research on low temperature system can be satisfied.

　　Interface News: The latest research results of room temperature superconductivity frequently appear recently, is it related to the inclination of some industrial resources?

　　Liu Yisong: Many times, the revolutionary changes of a discipline may not necessarily come from the discipline itself, but may come from the periphery. The evolution of molecular biology, from the molecular level to the atomic level, comes more from the mechanical progress at the physical level. For example, the discovery of electron microscope instruments will lead to a certain level of medical research.

　　Recently, I visited many university professors, and I got the general view that new materials development in the field of superconductivity has been done all the time, and new papers are also being distributed, but everyone is more disciplined and there is no explosion in the public eye. These academic events are all catalyzed by those teams.

　　Interface News: An industry survey shows that there are three leading domestic companies engaged in room temperature superconductivity, namely Shanghai Superconductor, Eastern Superconductor and Shanghai Shangchuang, all of which are producers of superconducting materials. They were basically established ten years ago, and they only started to invest and finance this year. What changes will the new superconducting experiment bring to the primary market?

　　(According to the data of Cailian Venture Capital, there are only 46 financing events related to the preparation of superconducting materials and high-temperature thin films in the primary market, with 63 participating institutions, and almost no investment and financing projects related to room temperature superconductivity. )

　　Liu Yisong: Actually, these three companies are making second-generation superconducting materials, which belong to the Yttrium-barium-copper-oxygen system. The 77k they need is equivalent to minus 190 degrees Celsius, not room temperature. There are also listed companies making superconducting materials in China, such as Western Superconducting, and these three start-ups basically cover companies that can produce.

　　These companies will indeed get a higher degree of attention this year because of the series of events, which will help them expand their customers and production capacity, as well as financing.?

　　Interface News: What projects are investors in superconducting related directions investing in the primary market now?

　　Liu Yisong: I pay attention to cutting-edge technology in the organization. Because the development of materials has greatly changed cutting-edge technology, materials have always been my concern. Our company invested in some applied materials, considering that the basic research of materials is mature, but there is still a need for breakthroughs in applied research, so we invested in some good domestic academician teams, all of which are engaged in the development of applied materials.

　　Investment institutions can't bear the cycle of basic research, so they should pay more attention to the application level. Most investors in investment institutions look at the application. The development cycle of basic materials is too long, and it needs the support of national scientific research strength in the early stage.

　　After the technology has accumulated for several years and reached the threshold of commercialization cost, our primary market institutions will pay more attention to the commercialization opportunities at that time.