From top student in college to scientific research powerhouse

Chapter 74 Tinene Thin Films: They're Actually Everywhere!
There is a fixed procedure for the acceptance and settlement of projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Every year, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) holds internal meetings to discuss and conduct acceptance reviews for different types of projects in different batches, and drafts a list of expert review panels.

For example, a unified acceptance period is arranged for similar outstanding young scientists and general projects, and a special project acceptance results meeting is held. This also facilitates comparison between projects and involves a series of issues such as subsequent awards.

The project of the Applied Electromagnetic Laboratory is a general project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. It belongs to the research and development of physical properties of cutting-edge materials science and technology, and is also a key area funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The project was jointly applied for by the university and the provincial science and technology department, which is a bit stronger than ordinary general projects.

However, in reality, it is still a general project, at most it can be called a 'major project' rather than a key project.

For such projects, the acceptance process is usually scheduled by time period, and the acceptance time may be delayed until the end of the year.

This is now a special case because the research and development results are outstanding and significant.

After seeing the results report, Hu Chunjiang immediately contacted Meng Zhiyang.

After discussing it with Yuan Hui and Li Hao, Meng Zhiyang immediately decided to organize a special expert group to conduct an acceptance test of the results at the Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory of Jiangzhou University.

The special expert group was formed quickly, and they found two of the most professional scholars.

One is Professor Hong Zhenyu from Donggang Polytechnic University.

In the field of stanene research and development in China, Professor Hong Zhenyu's team verified the coexistence of topological edge states and superconductivity in stanene several years ago, and detected a weak Ising superconducting signal in the experiment.

In Hong Zhenyu's team's work, only signals were measured for topological edge states, and the results were not 100% clear.

Their conclusions were primarily based on the detection of bilayer stanene.

Another expert is Professor Cao Wang from the Capital Materials Science and Technology Research Center, a national key laboratory.

Cao Wang's team is also conducting electromagnetic metamaterial property testing, and has chosen the research direction of tinene preparation and measurement.

There's a saying that goes, "competitors are enemies." Scholars who do research in the same direction are fundamentally competitors.

When Cao Wang learned that he was to go to the Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory of Jiangzhou University to conduct an acceptance test of the research results, he immediately agreed.

He also wanted to see how far his competitors had progressed in their research.

The other members of the acceptance team included Academician Meng Zhiyang, Li Hao, deputy director of the Achievements Department, Xu Mingkai and Du Wei, who were in charge of project funding, plus two assistants.

Apart from Hong Zhenyu from Donggang, the special expert group gathered at the Capital Airport.

When Cao Wang arrived at the airport and spoke with Meng Zhiyang for a few minutes, he learned just how impressive the achievements of the Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory were.

"Did you directly measure the topological edge state phenomenon?"

"The Ising superconductivity was also detected?"

"Isn't this possible?"

Cao Wang was somewhat taken aback upon hearing this. His team had been dedicated to researching tinene growth and had even found several new methods.

For example, changing the substrate structure or using other metal substrates.

The results have been minimal so far.

All other substrate materials are less effective than bismuth telluride in preparing tinene.

The problem is that Hong Zhenyu's team has already reached the limit in the direction of manufacturing stanene on bismuth telluride substrates. How can they go further without changing the substrate material?
This is the most troubling problem.

So when Cao Wang learned about the achievements of the Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory, he immediately asked, "What substrate material did they use?"

Meng Zhiyang was not an expert in tinene research, but after reading the entire report, he immediately replied, "Bismuth telluride."

"impossible!"

Cao Wang screamed on the spot, "Absolutely impossible!"

"Our team, including Professor Hong Zhenyu's team, has conducted countless experiments, and we have reached the limit in preparing stanene on bismuth telluride substrates!"

"How could they possibly create tinene materials that can be directly detected in topological edge states using bismuth telluride?"

Everyone else found it hilarious.

Meng Zhiyang quickly reassured him, smiling, "Professor Cao, don't worry."

"I was also surprised when I first heard it, but Academician Yuan Hui is right. Don't guess or think, just go and see for yourself."

Cao Wang took a deep breath and suppressed the questions in his mind.

The group boarded the plane.

A few hours later, they ran into Hong Zhenyu as soon as they exited Jiangzhou Airport.

Hong Zhenyu's flight was two hours early, and he waited for two hours as well, still unaware of the outcome.

On the way to the university in Jiangzhou, Meng Zhiyang briefly mentioned it again.

Hong Zhenyu was equally surprised, but he was much calmer than Cao Wang. "They have already submitted their results reports, so it's impossible that they made these claims without any basis."

Why bother us like this?

"So there must have been some results, and the results will be significant."

Others nodded.

Apart from Cao Wang, who was involved, everyone else could see clearly that the Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory would not submit a fake results report.

The results were so significant that they had to temporarily assemble a special expert group to rush over and inspect the results.

If they submit a fake research report, they will be blacklisted by the science foundation, making it impossible for anyone in the lab to apply for projects in the future.

In fact, Hong Zhenyu was also not at peace.

Several years ago, his team made a breakthrough in the research of stanene, but so far there has been no further breakthrough.

He believes that the research direction of using bismuth telluride as a substrate has reached its limit.

Therefore, in recent years, his team has been studying the most suitable substrate for tinene growth. The substrate characteristics determine the atomic spacing of the tinene thin layer, which in turn determines the characteristics of the tinene thin layer.

Such research can accumulate a lot of experimental data.

The problem is that progress is too slow, and it is difficult to make any groundbreaking discoveries.

"Perhaps the research in the applied electromagnetics laboratory can provide some inspiration," Hong Zhenyu thought.

……

Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory.

The lab has become a bit quieter in the last few days, as many people are writing papers and have simply stopped staying in the lab.

Some researchers in the lab have also started discussing the issue of submitting papers, although they still spend most of their time in the office.

Chen Shuai also spends most of his time in the office; he is the busiest person in the laboratory.

Project acceptance and settlement work involves more than just writing two reports; it also requires research and summarization, data organization, preparation of acceptance materials, and so on.

A series of complicated tasks left Chen Shuai feeling overwhelmed.

The inspection team was about to arrive, so he kept organizing the inspection materials, afraid that something might go wrong during the inspection.

Chen Shuai also lacked relevant experience; his previous project was a collaboration with the Materials Laboratory of Capital University of Science and Technology.

He and Zhu Bingkun were merely collaborators, assisting with some experimental and data work.

When the project is accepted, they don't need to do anything; they only need to prepare their papers and reports.

This is the first time I'm preparing for the acceptance of a million-dollar project, so naturally I feel flustered and even overwhelmed.

Most importantly, there was no one to help share the workload.

Zhu Bingkun used the excuse of doing experiments to stay cooped up in the lab every day.

Xue Kun was the same.

The two seemed to treat the lab behind the building as their home, sometimes even staying up all night to watch the growth of tinene.

"Could they have made another big discovery?"

Chen Shuai harbored strong suspicions: "They made a big discovery, then dumped me on the sidelines, leaving me to write all sorts of documents and prepare for the acceptance test—it's all become my job?"

He became increasingly frustrated, and in his anger, he almost tore up the documents on the table.

There's precedent for this!
"They say they're conducting an experiment designed by Zhang Minghao, but could that just be an excuse?"

"Perhaps there has been some entirely new discovery..."

After thinking it over carefully, Chen Shuai decided to go downstairs for a walk.

When I passed by the doctoral student's workspace, I found that Chen Lanjun was the only one inside.

Chen Shuai immediately went inside. As he entered, he glanced down the hallway to make sure no one was there, then leaned over and whispered, "Where's Zhang Minghao?"

"I think he went to class..."

Chen Lanjun was a little uncertain and asked doubtfully, "Teacher Chen, do you need to see him for something?"

"No, I was just asking."

Chen Shuai pretended not to care and then continued, "What has Zhang Minghao been up to lately?"

He quickly added after he finished speaking, "I was just asking, showing some concern."

Chen Lanjun looked at him strangely, thought for a moment and said, "Sometimes I go to the lab, but most of the time I'm here."

What is he researching?

"It's nothing, is it?"

Chen Lanjun said, "I've noticed he's been quite free lately. Sometimes he even watches movies. He's so free he's even going to class..."

"Right!"

Chen Shuai immediately realized what was going on and breathed a long sigh of relief. The subsequent experiments should not have much to do with Zhang Minghao.

If it weren't for Zhang Minghao, what could Zhu Bingkun and Xue Kun possibly come up with?
……

Zhang Minghao does have a lot of free time, but he is actually doing research.

He had been hoping to find a way to prepare tinene with clear insulating properties in the middle, and he thought of several methods.

For example, changing the substrate.

After further investigation, we gave up because the material properties are directly related to the substrate, and the problem we encountered in the experiment was the insufficient precision of the fabrication process.

Artificial manipulation of atomic arrangements inevitably leads to process limitations. However, the laboratory's fabrication techniques are flawless, including substrate fabrication and the provided stanene growth environment, and are no different from those of large laboratory teams.

This problem cannot be solved at the moment.

He could offer little advice on experimental design and couldn't get involved in the experiments, so he became quite idle.

When the inspection team returned that day, he went to class because it was still early.

A physics class.

Upon seeing Zhang Minghao, Ma Yan immediately approached and asked curiously, "Why have you been coming to class so little lately?"

Zhang Minghao said calmly, "I had nothing to do today, so I came to attend a class."

"You only come to class because you have nothing better to do?"

Ma Yan's lips twitched as he listened, feeling like he wasn't on the same wavelength as the other person. "Aren't you afraid of not achieving results?"

"will not!"

Zhang Minghao waved his hand, "The teachers all said they would give me a pass in all the courses."

The school had already given him instructions, and he passed all his graduate courses with the highest marks, including his general education courses.

Ma Yan had no more things to say.

There's no way to compare people.

The gap between doctoral students is like an insurmountable chasm.

He remained silent for a long time, then suddenly a fawning smile appeared on his face as he said, "Brother Hao, hehe, if you have time, please put in a good word for me. I also want to get into the lab."

"Why are you in the lab so early?"

"To conduct experiments and do scientific research!"

"Uh... ok."

Zhang Minghao, knowing that Xue Kun was indeed short of doctoral students, nodded and said, "I'll put in a good word for you later."

Ma Yan immediately smiled happily.

Zhang Minghao silently shook his head, thinking of Liao Shuyan and Xu Chao, who were busy in the laboratory every day, doing experiments until 10 p.m.

They probably miss the easy life of just attending classes.

Ma Yan is still too young.

After class, Zhang Minghao returned to the Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory.

The inspection team is coming; there are already people waiting outside the laboratory.

He walked over and found Tan Yanming there as well. He greeted him and waved to Wang Guiyuan, Zhou Qi, and others. The rest of the people were all from the laboratory.

Looking around, Zhu Bingkun and Xue Kun were not there.

Tan Yanming also asked, "Why haven't Xue Kun and Zhu Bingkun arrived yet? What are they busy with? The inspection team will be here soon."

"I gonna go see."

Zhang Minghao then went to the laboratory at the back.

Zhu Bingkun and Xue Kun also came out.

Xue Kun was still holding a container of materials in his hand. He said, "I'll take the materials to the testing room. You and Zhang Minghao can go ahead first."

Zhang Minghao and Zhu Bingkun went to the front together.

Zhu Bingkun was not in good condition; his eyes were bloodshot, clearly indicating sleep deprivation, and he appeared somewhat dazed.

"Teacher Zhu, have you prepared for the inspection?" Zhang Minghao asked as he walked.

Zhu Bingkun said nonchalantly, "Chen Shuai has already prepared all the materials. There's nothing else to prepare. Just give them the materials."

"Right."

Zhang Minghao immediately stopped worrying.

As they were talking, they reached the main gate and saw a minivan approaching from a distance. The eight-member inspection team got out of the vehicle.

The two sides exchanged polite handshakes but did not discuss anything further.

Zhu Bingkun led the inspection team to the reception room.

As soon as everyone sat down, Cao Wang couldn't help but speak up, "Professor Zhu, let's get straight to the point."

"Regarding your findings, topological edge states and Ising superconductivity, you said you directly measured them. How did you measure them?"

He simply couldn't believe it.

Hong Zhenyu had the same thought; he also wanted to know how the other party had directly measured it.

Chen Shuai took a document and handed it over. It contained the results acceptance materials, including some experimental content and the inspection content.

The contents were quite complicated, so Meng Zhiyang glanced at them and handed them directly to Hong Zhenyu.

Hong Zhenyu took the document but didn't open it. Instead, he asked directly, "We can look at the experimental materials later. But the question remains: how did you directly measure the topological edge states and the Ising superconductivity phenomenon?"

Everyone in the room looked at Zhu Bingkun.

Tan Yanming was not clear about the specifics of the project; he was only there to help with hospitality.

The inspection team included academicians like Meng Zhiyang, who is the dean of the School of Physics and also an academician, so their statuses were equal.

Zhu Bingkun said, "The report says that we measured it directly."

He pointed to a box, opened it, and took out a sealed box. Through the sealing layer, he could see that there was a thin film-like material inside.

"This is the multilayer tinene film we prepared."

Zhu Bingkun explained, then said, "Take the materials to the testing lab, measure them directly, and the results will come out."

Hong Zhenyu and Cao Wang exchanged a glance and fell silent.

Meng Zhiyang, Li Hao, and the others also looked at the box containing the materials with surprise.

Zhu Bingkun handed the box over.

Meng Zhiyang carefully took it, examined it closely from all angles, and asked in surprise, "This is... stanene?"

"Correct."

Zhu Bingkun nodded, "Multi-layer tinene films are made by stacking single-layer tinene films."

"Are you sure?"

"of course."

The inspection team members couldn't believe it, including Tan Yanming.

Tinene thin films are two-dimensional materials. After they are prepared, they are usually placed in the laboratory to keep the material still, otherwise the material properties may be affected.

Even if we disregard the material properties and just take it out directly, isn't this 'multilayer tinene thin film' a bit too big?

Meng Zhiyang handed the box to Hong Zhenyu.

Hong Zhenyu carefully took it and examined it closely for a long time. He said with a puzzled look, "Judging from its appearance, it does look very much like a multilayer tinene film, similar to what we have prepared."

Cao Wang leaned closer for a look and exclaimed in surprise, "It's so big? Could it be a fake?"

Zhu Bingkun and Chen Shuai glared at them angrily.

Meng Zhiyang also frowned.

Zhang Minghao, who was sitting opposite him, immediately said, "If you suspect the materials are forged, why don't you just have them tested? Don't just spout nonsense without knowing anything."

Cao Wang knew he had said the wrong thing, but seeing that the person who had rebuked him was a young man, he immediately felt embarrassed. He frowned and scolded, "Who are you? How dare you talk like that!"

"How can you talk like that? Who in their right mind would say that someone else's materials are counterfeit?"

Tan Yanming quickly pulled Zhang Minghao back, laughing as he advised, "Be magnanimous, don't take it to heart!"

This statement doesn't sound like advice; rather, it places the blame on Cao Wang.

Cao Wang was panting heavily with anger, but since the other party was an academician, there was nothing he could say.

Meng Zhiyang chuckled and said to Tan Yanming, "Academician Tan, you're really protective of your own! He's your student?"

"I do wish he were my student." Tan Yanming gave a wry smile and continued, "Zhang Minghao, I just introduced him, you might not have noticed."

"Zhang Minghao?"

The inspection team finally realized what was happening.

Others immediately thought of the 'Zhang phenomenon', and now they met the discoverer of the 'Zhang phenomenon'.

Young man, you really have a temper!
If it were someone else, they would simply pretend that Cao Wang had never said those words.

Meng Zhiyang was also aware of the 'Zhang phenomenon'. He had read the research report, and Zhang Minghao's name was listed first among the research contributions, which stated that he had studied a suitable substrate adjustment scheme based on experimental data.

He looked at Zhang Minghao carefully, then asked without saying anything more, "Can we take this material with us for testing?"

"These are the boxes we're preparing for inspection," Zhu Bingkun said, pointing to the boxes.

The others were somewhat confused.

Zhu Bingkun simply went over and opened the box. Inside were neatly arranged boxes, each containing materials similar to those he had just seen.

Hong Zhenyu's mouth dropped open in astonishment. "These are all...?"

The expressions on the faces of the others were no better.

Multilayer tinene thin films, the legendary high-end two-dimensional scientific research material, when did they become so common?
A whole box?

Zhu Bingkun nodded and said, "These are all. The laboratory also has some of even better quality."

"Isn't this enough for just verifying the results?"

"Topological edge states, Ising superconductivity, and other properties can be directly measured by determining the material properties."

　Chapter Three is here!

　　I've been writing all day, and I'm feeling dizzy and unwell all over. I really can't write anymore, so please don't wait!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)