At the beginning of the year, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero's laboratory made excellent results on the graphene superconductivity research project, which opened up a new platform for superconductivity research.
Which was, when the two graphene sheets overlapped at an angle close to 1.1 °, the energy band structure would be close to a zero-dispersion energy band, causing the energy band to transform into a Mott insulator when it was half-filled.
At that time, this research result caused quite a stir.
Even though in the eyes of many laymen, a superconductivity transition temperature of 1 Kelvin wasn't impressive, in fact, this project was actually full of potential.
As for why, first of all, one had to understand a very basic concept, which was that the superconductivity transition temperature was proportional to the carrier concentration of the material.
Therefore, in theory, as long as the carrier concentration of the material could be increased, the upper limit of the superconductivity transition temperature could be increased.
A very simple data comparison was made. The carrier concentration of graphene under the above conditions was only 10 ^ 11cm ^ -2, but the transition temperature reached 1K.
In contrast, the superconductivity transition temperature of copper oxide was around 100K, but the equivalent two-dimensional material carrier concentration was on the order of 10 ^ 14cm ^ -2.
Even if one didn't understand chemistry, one could intuitively feel the superiority of graphene materials over traditional copper oxide materials in the field of high-temperature superconductivity.
There were many ways to increase the carrier concentration of graphene. The doping target could be divided into N-type doping and P-type doping. The doping material source could be divided into metal doping, small molecule doping, substrate doping, crystal lattice doping, etc.
This was the advantage of graphene materials.
The atomic-level sheets of two-dimensional materials could be stacked and combined at will to form new structures, and these new structural materials often had new properties. This almost limitless possibility also meant limitless possibilities.
The disadvantage was that it was expensive.
However, for academic research, there was no need to consider things like costs.
How to reduce costs, how to commercialize, and how to make a profit, these were all things that the industry needed to consider.
However, this time, Lu Zhou sincerely hoped that the industry could find a way to commercialize his research results a little faster.
The system gave him a very tight time.
In order to build a "DEMO" nuclear fusion prototype before 2025, a more concise superconducting material was essential.
After all, it was impossible for him to build this "DEMO" magnetic confinement device as big as the European Hadron Collider …
The night the experiment results came out, Lu Zhou invited Connie, Professor Chirik, and his two assistants to the best bar in Palmer Square for a drink.
As for the money, it would naturally come from the research fund.
Anyway, this research funding was paid by Lu Zhou himself.
"Tell me the truth, why are you suddenly interested in superconducting materials? Research on superconducting materials is obviously not as profitable as batteries, "said Professor Chirik, who was sitting next to Lu Zhou, as he ordered a cocktail.
Although there wasn't much to discuss about the direction of research, there were still people researching the unpopular direction. However, Lu Zhou used to research electrode materials, and now he suddenly changed his research to superconducting materials. Professor Chirik really didn't understand why Lu Zhou did this.
After all, even though the field of superconducting materials wasn't unpopular, it wasn't very profitable.
Lu Zhou joked, "If I said it's for poetry and distance, would you believe me?"
"You drank too much." Chirik looked at the bartender behind the bar and said, "Bartender, give him a Bloody Mary."
"Don't listen to him, change the Bloody Mary to a Tequila Sunrise. If you want to drink that tomato juice, drink it yourself." Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said, "Okay, to be honest, it's because my experiment needs a larger electromagnetic field, and the traditional copper oxide superconducting material has reached its limit in terms of engineering magnetic field strength. Therefore, I have to look for new materials."
Professor Chirik: "For theoretical physics experiments?"
He seemed to have heard the story of Lu Zhou and the 750 GeV.
Lu Zhou picked up the tequila sunrise on the bar and slowly took a sip. He then spoke ambiguously.
"Sort of."
"Okay then … Research for the sake of research." Professor Chirik shook the glass in his hand and made a helpless expression. He raised his glass and said, "I'll give you a toast for your feelings."
"Thank you."
Lu Zhou also raised his glass and gently clinked glasses with him.
The bar in Palmer Square wasn't very fun. Other than the residents of the small town, most of the customers were Princeton students or professors.
The kind of scenes that usually appeared in American dramas were rare here, unless one went to a more remote place.
According to Connie, if one wanted to play something more exciting, they had to go to Philadelphia.
However, for Lu Zhou, alcohol was enough to relax his tired nerves.
It was worth mentioning that even though the atmosphere here wasn't very lively, the people were very enthusiastic.
Professor Chirik was drunk and went to the bathroom. He noticed that Lu Zhou was sitting alone at the bar, so a young and beautiful Asian girl walked over and sat next to him. She smiled and asked for his phone number.
However, Lu Zhou quickly recognized that this girl seemed to be one of his students. He had left his phone number and email on the blackboard more than once.
There was no way she didn't know his phone number.
Even though Lu Zhou didn't know what she was looking for, she probably wanted to have fun with him.
After being exposed by Lu Zhou, she had a surprised look on her face. Then, she walked away dejectedly …
They played until the wee hours of the morning. After the group of drunk men crossed the road, they went back to their homes.
The next day, the North America branch of Star Sky Technology sent a team of professional lawyers from Philadelphia to help with the patent application.
Only after receiving the patent number could the thesis be published.
If this order was reversed, it was very likely that the patent application would not be approved because of the novelty.
In order to ensure that the patent application was completed as soon as possible, the CEO of the North America branch, White Sheridan, personally came to Lu Zhou.
Sheridan took the patent application from Lu Zhou and looked at the patent description. He couldn't help but speak.
"Seriously, don't you want to go public?"
Lu Zhou: "Go public?"
Sheridan said in a serious manner, "That's right, if we only rely on patent income, our annual profit is less than US $100 million. However, if we go public on NASDAQ, with our market share in the lithium-sulfur battery field and the future development potential of the alternative energy industry, you can become a billionaire in less than a year. "
Lu Zhou had to admit that this sounded very attractive.
However, when Lu Zhou heard the word billionaire, he smiled and said nonchalantly, "The market value is fake. If it can all be turned into cash, I can consider it. But if not, I don't want to have a board meeting every time I make a project."
His original intention of establishing Star Sky Technology was to make it easier for him to focus on research. If he went against this, it would be like putting the cart before the horse.
As for being a billionaire …
Honestly, he didn't even know what to do with the hundreds of millions of dollars in his bank account.
"Okay then … Even if you only own 1% of the shares, no idiot would stop you from doing experiments."
Sheridan made a helpless expression.
There weren't many people in this day and age who were stubborn like this.
However, he had nothing to complain about.
After all, even though Lu Zhou had a strong control over the company, he was still quite generous with his salary.
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