Superconductor Controversy & Future

Welcome to the thirty-fourth Pari Passu newsletter.

Our topic today is superconductors.

Superconductors

A few weeks ago, scientists in South Korea claimed to have created a superconductor called LK99 that operates at room temperature at ambient (normal) pressure. Since then, there has been ample discussion surrounding the veracity of the claims, but superconductors are inarguably an innovation on the horizon and have already proven to be a market mover.

Before going further, let’s review some concepts. 

A conductor is a material that allows the flow of electricity (the steel pot you cook with). An insulator is a material that inhibits the flow of electricity (the wooden spoon you touch without being burned). A resistor is a material that can both act like a conductor (at low resistance) and an insulator (at high resistance).

A semiconductor is a small piece of material (called silicon) that can self-direct the flow of electricity so that the material can act as both a conductor and an insulator. The semiconductor replaced the large switches that were needed to turn electricity off and on in the first computers. This innovation is what enabled computers to take up less space, cost less, and operate more quickly and efficiently. 

Almost any device or machine you interact with (phone, computer, washing machine, air conditioner, car, credit card, ATM, etc) relies on semiconductors for processing and memory storage. The leading semiconductor companies include Nvidia, Qualcomm, AMD, Intel, Samsung, Hitachi, Micron, and Broadcom, among many others. There has been a semiconductor shortage since the pandemic, and these chips - and their associated manufacturing technologies - are a key component of US-Chinese tensions. 

A superconductor is a powerful semiconductor that conducts electricity flawlessly without any energy loss (your computer needs a fan inside to keep it cool due to the heat created by energy transfer; this is also how a toaster works). However, cold temperatures (-10 degrees Fahrenheit), high pressures (1.7mm times atmosphere pressure), or both are required. Superconductors also repel magnetic waves- this will be important later. If your phone had a superconductor, it would have unlimited battery, produce no heat, and work one billion times faster.

Superconductors are employed most commonly in MRI machines. Google’s Sycamore quantum processor uses superconductors to achieve its speed, and Japan’s Yamanashi Maglev bullet train relies on superconducting coils for levitation. There is also interesting discussion concerning the use of superconductors in servers and windmills to increase operating efficiency and limit location dependence on energy availability for data centers and wind farms. 

Prominent companies in the superconductor space include many of the semiconductor companies, as well as American Superconductor (AMSC), MetOx Technologies (private), Bruker (BRKR), SuNAM (South Korea), Shinsung Delta Tech (South Korea), and Sumitomo Electric Industries (Japan), among others.

Let’s now understand the recent updates

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