Top Student

"When the temperature drops to about 1K (-272°C), the resistance of aluminum is already lower than 10^(-25)Ω." Xu You muttered to himself.

With such a low resistance value, the resistance can already be considered as 0.

Although this is a fact that Xu You already knew.

But Xu You also felt that it was very strange to make this experimental phenomenon by himself.

It's like the pure joy when I first came into contact with physics experiments.

After measuring the properties of bulk aluminum metal superconductivity, Xu You did not rush to change materials.

Instead, change the conditions such as temperature and pressure, and continue the measurement.

After all, if you want to write a paper in the future, the more data you have, the better. If you test more data, you will have enough content to choose from.

Moreover, you may find some unexpected phenomena.

"Huh~ I didn't expect it to be just a resistance test. It's really not that easy."

It took Xu You a lot of effort just to measure the data of the first material.

Moreover, Xu You did not change multiple dimensions, mainly just changing the temperature and pressure.

Otherwise, I don't know when I will be able to finish testing this batch of materials.

Xu You also finally understood why Yuan Dong, who does these jobs every day, has such a mentality.

After measuring the bulk aluminum metal, Xu You can finally start the next step of measurement.

These clusters of aluminum atoms are the highlight.

The first batch of aluminum cluster materials sent by Xu Zhou ranged from 13 to 37 atoms.

Not every atomic number exists in the middle. Xu You thinks that it should be because some aluminum clusters cannot be prepared.

Next, Xu You continued to measure the resistance.

Yuan Dong's joke before has also become a fact.

In this way, Xu You repeated the mechanical procedures of measuring resistance, applying pressure to measure resistance, and changing materials to measure resistance.

What surprised Xu You was that after measuring multiple materials, Xu You didn't find anything too special.

Although according to Xu You's theory, only when the number of aluminum atoms in each aluminum atom cluster is large enough, superconductivity can easily occur at higher temperatures.

But Xu You gradually lost confidence in the results of experiments again and again.

"Hey, let's finish testing the last material first."

Xu You didn't know if there was something wrong with his theory.

But until now, Xu You could only continue the experiment.

If it really doesn't work, go back and analyze your own theory and experimental data to see what went wrong.

"Huh? Wait a minute!"

Suddenly, Xu You discovered that this last material had a completely different phenomenon in terms of electrical conductivity.

The previous materials only achieved superconductivity when the temperature was around 1K.

But this time, the temperature was far from lowering to 1K, and the phenomenon of superconductivity appeared in advance!

"There is a door!" Xu You said excitedly.

This sudden phenomenon made Xu You regain his confidence.

This proves that Xu You's previous theory is indeed correct.

In Xu You's theory, when there are Cooper pairs inside the material, these electron pairs will attract each other with a very weak force.

The superconducting ability of a material is activated when pairs of electrons encounter defects inside the material.

Such internal defects are prone to occur when the aluminum atoms are combined in a larger number of atomic clusters.

This is the main basis of Xu You's theory.

After that, Xu You continued to adjust the temperature, measuring the critical temperature when an aluminum cluster containing 37 aluminum atoms reached a superconducting state.

Finally, when the temperature reaches about 80K, Al-37 loses its superconducting properties.

"A full increase of 79K is indeed a very different change!"

Xu You held back his excitement, completed the measurement experiment, recorded the data, and packed up the experimental equipment.

With the experimental data, Xu You found Qiao Sen.

"Mr. Qiao, there is progress!"

Seeing Xu You's happy face, Qiao Sen knew that Xu You's theory must have been successfully verified.

"Don't worry, tell me in detail."

Next, Xu You and Qiao Sen described the experimental process just now and the experimental phenomenon they finally discovered.

"Teacher, in fact, I was a little worried before I made aluminum 37. My theory was wrong. I was afraid that if I couldn't make results, it would be a waste of experimental funds. Fortunately, the final aluminum 37 was made, superconducting The critical temperature is 79K higher than that of ordinary bulk aluminum, which is a very obvious change."

In fact, Xu You is not afraid of failure, but after knowing that scientific research is so costly, he is really worried that his theory is wrong, which leads to a waste of a lot of scientific research funds.

"Xu You, you don't have to think so much. If aluminum 37 doesn't work, just keep going. Even if everything doesn't work, it doesn't matter. At least we got so much experimental data, it's not a waste of resources. There are only a small number of scientific research that can produce results, and it is normal for them to fail to produce results, so there is no need to have such a huge psychological burden."

Qiao Sen has done so many years of scientific research and knows how many failed projects there are in the laboratory every year.

But this is an unavoidable price on the path of exploring the truth.

"Teacher, I know, I will adjust my mentality in the future."

After reporting the good news to Qiao Sen, Xu You immediately went back to continue sorting out the experimental data.

After persuading Xu You, Qiao Sen couldn't help admiring Xu You's theory.

"This child can predict the superconducting properties of matter only through theoretical analysis and calculation. It's amazing!"

Qiao Sen knew that most superconducting materials were determined through experimental measurements before the theoretical principles were unknown.

There are few examples of theoretical analysis first and then experimental verification.

Although when he met Xu You for the first time, Qiao Sen knew that the child's future would not be easy.

But it never occurred to him that it could be so miraculous.

"No wonder it's easy to post a PRL. This time, it's not too difficult to post "Nature."

Like Wang Xiangwu, Qiao Sen had no intention of competing with Xu You for the first paper.

To be able to produce results in his own laboratory is already a very meaningful thing for Qiao Sen.

After that, Xu Zhou prepared some aluminum clusters with higher atomic numbers and sent them to Qiao Sen in batches.

Xu You also continued the boring experiment of measuring resistance.

Although most clusters of aluminum atoms do not exhibit superconducting properties at higher temperatures.

However, there were still several individual clusters of aluminum atoms, and again the desired results were obtained.

"In addition to aluminum 37, there are three other aluminum atomic clusters that also exhibit similar properties, and the superconducting critical temperature gradually increases, reaching a maximum of about 100K."

After completing all the measurement experiments, Xu You reported the final experimental phenomena to Qiao Sen.

"Well, that's basically it. Professor Xu Zhou can no longer synthesize aluminum clusters with more atoms."