From top student in college to scientific research powerhouse

Chapter 67 A groundbreaking development that shocked the world!
It wouldn't be easy for Xue Kun to be replaced, because he is very talented in physics experiments.

The laboratory fabrication of bismuth telluride substrates requires delicate operations, many parts of which need to be done manually, and the use of equipment also requires very precise operation.

Many procedures require, at their most basic level, accurate positioning and absolutely no hand tremors, just like a surgeon performing complex operations.

Even after performing the same laboratory procedures many times, some people still lack proficiency and make various minor mistakes.

Xue Kun, on the other hand, was able to learn it in one go, controlling each step with great precision.

In experiments requiring precise manipulation, Zhu Bingkun, Zhou Jianyong, and other researchers could only watch from the sidelines.

They can also manufacture bismuth telluride substrates according to the design, but they are not very confident in their operation.

This requires a lot of talent.

Xue Kun personally oversaw the fabrication of the bismuth telluride substrate because two of the six correlations studied by Zhang Minghao involved pathway issues in the layout of the bismuth telluride substrate.

Since the original bismuth telluride substrates were unusable, a completely new one had to be manufactured.

In practice, conventional experiments still use the original substrate or make simple modifications to an existing substrate, and then use equipment to assist in certain operations to manufacture it.

Therefore, doctoral students can also participate in the experiments. They use the original substrates, and the parameter corrections are only made by adjusting external properties such as magnetism and temperature.

The substrate fabrication process takes more than twelve hours.

Xue Kun spent a day and a half completing the final solidification step in three separate sessions, after which the work was handed over to Zhu Bingkun and other researchers.

They set up the environment, controlled the temperature and magnetism according to the experimental design, and then controlled the injection of activators and tin atom materials.

Stannine has no defined growth time.

The project team typically controls the growth time to between 12 and 14 hours in their experiments.

Growth does not mean growing like a plant, but rather waiting for extremely tiny tin atoms to slowly attach to the surface of the bismuth telluride substrate.

The experimental goal is to create a single-atom-layer material called tinene.

If the growth time is too long, the resulting experimental product will have a very thick tin layer, and the experiment will naturally fail.

……

The researchers were all busy, while the doctoral students in the lab were quite relaxed.

The experiment will take more than a day.

The growth of stanene takes more than ten hours, and the experimental products also need to be taken to the testing laboratory for detailed testing, which also takes several hours or even longer.

On the day they were waiting for the results, Zhang Minghao's doctoral student workspace was bustling with activity.

Chen Lanjun, Liao Zhenyu, and Xu Chao were all there, along with other doctoral students from other work areas who came over to talk.

They wanted to learn more about the experiment from Zhang Minghao.

Surrounded by several people asking questions, Zhang Minghao briefly explained the experimental information: "I analyzed the original data and discovered several weak correlations between the properties of the substrate and tinene."

"Professor Chen thought it was fine, so Professor Zhu and the others decided to do a new experiment, adding all the weakly correlated factors, including the magnetic correlation that Professor Chen analyzed."

"The experiment incorporates adjustments for all factors, so there might be progress."

He said it was possible, but his expectations were very high; if not 100%, then over 90%.

"Correct Perception" has already provided the results.

However, "Correct Perception" can only determine that the experimental plan is correct. Whether the experiment will succeed depends on the specific operation. In addition, it cannot determine the final result.

For example, to what extent was it successful?
Is it to manufacture a high-quality multilayer tinene film, an unevenly mixed tin layer, or a single-layer tinene film?
These results will depend on the test results of the experimental products.

A doctoral student named Deng Kai suddenly sighed, "Zhang Minghao, you're the best. Professor Zhu and the others all believe in you."

"I also offered my opinions, but all I got were a few eye rolls and then I was ignored."

Liao Shuyan chuckled and said sarcastically, "Is that what you call an opinion?"

He explained to others, "At the time, Deng Kai said that the research had not made any progress for a long time, and asked if we should consider changing the substrate material."

"Replace the bismuth telluride? How? What will you replace it with? How could you even think of that!"

The others immediately burst out laughing.

Xu Chao chimed in sarcastically, "You should switch to studying theoretical physics and calculate what substrate materials are suitable for manufacturing tinene."

"Whenever you can publish a CNS paper, we'll listen to you."

Deng Kai immediately retorted with dissatisfaction, "If I were researching something that could be published in CNS journals, would I be telling you? I would have been hired by a big institution long ago!"

After he finished speaking, he looked at Zhang Minghao and said, "Zhang Minghao, you're very knowledgeable. Tell me, does this make sense? When the research had been stalled for a long time, shouldn't we have considered changing to a different substrate material?"

"There is indeed some truth to that."

Zhang Minghao nodded thoughtfully, then smiled and said, "But we also need to consider the actual situation. We can't just try them all one by one in experiments to find a more suitable substrate material than bismuth telluride, can we?"

The others immediately chimed in, "Yeah, we don't have enough funding either!"

"Even setting aside funding, the substrate itself is a problem. Some materials are very difficult to work with as substrates, and Professor Xue couldn't do it even if he worked himself to death."

"It can't just be Teacher Xue, Teacher Zhu and the others should come too..."

"To be honest, I also want to learn how to operate the equipment to fabricate substrates. This technology is really rare."

"You? You can't even connect a wire correctly. Last time you caused a short circuit and it almost caught fire..." A group of doctoral students were chatting and laughing when they saw Chen Shuai rushing over.

Xu Chao was standing at the door when he suddenly called out, "Teacher Chen, what's the rush?"

"Take a look at the experiment!"

Chen Shuai walked briskly forward, then suddenly stopped and called out, "Zhang Minghao, let's go to the testing room together!"

Zhang Minghao immediately went out and walked towards the testing room with Chen Shuai.

Xu Chao, Liao Shuyan, and others were also curious and wanted to go along, but Chen Shuai stopped them, saying, "The results aren't out yet, don't let too many people go!"

They had no choice but to stop.

Zhang Minghao followed Chen Shuai to the testing room, where he saw Xue Kun and Zhou Jianyong waiting at the door.

The two were talking excitedly.

Upon seeing Zhang Minghao, Xue Kun immediately turned his head and excitedly said with a flushed face, "Fang Huimin just came out and said that they have measured high-quality multilayer tinene films."

"Most importantly, insulating properties were measured inside the film, while conductive properties were measured at the edges!"

"The existence of edge conductivity is most likely a manifestation of topological edge states, a theoretically existing characteristic of stanene!"

Zhou Jianyong was also very excited. He added, "Even the top teams in China and even internationally have not been able to detect stable and clearly existing topological edge states!"

"The tinene they prepared requires extremely precise instruments to be detected."

"Our tinene is of significantly higher quality, and we can conduct more tests in the future!"

The high-quality multilayer tinene thin film, the potential presence of topological edge state signals, and the ability to perform multiple subsequent detections.

The three combined represent an undeniably significant achievement!

Chen Shuai was also very excited when he heard this, and he quickly asked, "When will the testing end?"

"Further measurements might reveal other discoveries, such as measuring the superconducting properties of Ixin, or even discovering a single-layer stanene thin film? Ideally, it would be in a stable state..."

Xue Kun shook his head, "I don't know anything else. Fang Huimin just came out and said they're still testing..."

"I doubt it'll be finished anytime soon, I'm itching to go inside and check it out!"

"That's enough, that's enough!"

Chen Shuai immediately said.

"Did she say what level it would reach? Did she mean a stable multilayer tinene film, or a cross-mixing of single and multilayers?" Zhang Minghao asked as well.

Xue Kun continued to shake his head.

Zhou Jianyong said, "That's all. She just came out to tell us the results, probably to share her joy?"

"This is the first time I've ever envied those who get tested; at least they know the results immediately."

The progress of the experimental research has indeed exceeded expectations.

The project applied for by the Electromagnetic Laboratory is called 'Theoretical Design and Property Study of Metamaterials'. The goal of the research on stanene is to accumulate experimental data.

If the edge characteristics of stanene can be measured in the study, the expected goal will have been achieved.

Now, high-quality multilayer tinene thin films have been prepared, which not only allows for 'edge characteristic measurement', but also enables direct measurement of tinene characteristics.

The research results went a step further, involving the verification of the theoretical properties of tinene materials.

What level is this achievement?

For example, the concept of single-layer carbon graphene materials has long existed internationally for a similar type of material.

Before graphene was developed, graphene existed only in theory. Its electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and other properties could only be inferred through calculations, and it was believed that this material would revolutionize the development of semiconductors.

Graphene is a two-dimensional honeycomb crystalline material with a single atomic layer, and its preparation is extremely difficult.

Twenty years ago, Andre Geim and his student Konstantin Novoselov successfully isolated graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, from graphite for the first time using a roll of ordinary adhesive tape, and conducted a series of property measurements on it.

Their research is considered a major milestone in materials science, ushering in a new era in the study of two-dimensional materials.

For this, they were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Like graphene, tinene is a two-dimensional single-atom-layer structure.

Tinene is a layer of tin atoms, and its theoretical properties as a metallic element make it more suitable as a semiconductor material than graphene.

Of course, the research is also more difficult.

To date, even the most advanced research teams in the world have only been able to obtain some data on stanene using ultra-high precision testing equipment.

Many experimental research results on tinene published in top journals, including some verification of tinene properties, are derived from extensive data measurement and subsequent 'calculation'.

They can now manufacture high-quality multilayer tinene films that allow for direct measurement of internal insulation properties and conductivity at the edges.

The same single-atom material has an insulator in the middle and a conductive edge.

This is what is called 'topological edge state'.

The direct detection of topological edge states has already shocked the world!
(End of this chapter)