6 ms·

> ...allows it to carry current with zero resistance at 3.5 Kelvin (about -453 degrees Fahrenheit) Seems to me this is a problem.

by algesten 10mo ago

fnands 10mo ago
It's an interesting result, but yeah, not a room temperature superconductor.
- zahlman 10mo ago
  For that matter, we've had superconductors for decades that work at much higher temperatures than this one.
  - rwmj 10mo ago
    It seems the breakthrough is that you could use familiar semiconductor manufacturing processes. However the temperature is still going to be a major issue. I don't want a computer that requires liquid helium cooling.
    - zahlman 10mo ago
      > you could use familiar semiconductor manufacturing processes. Unclear to me why that's helpful. Materials that superconduct at a higher temperature than this one aren't hard to come by, or obscure: > In 1913, lead was found to superconduct at 7 K,
      - lazide 10mo ago
        Probably because they don’t behave well for normal lithography techniques? The high temp superconductors I know of are weird meta materials, and good luck getting them to exist in chip form at all.
    - pwg 10mo ago
      > I don't want a computer that requires liquid helium cooling. True, but I /can/ see someone, such as Sandia National Labs, very much willing to install a liquid helium cooled computer if it provides a significant performance increase above their existing supercomputer installations.
throwaway173738 10mo ago
Isn’t that very close to the practical limit for cooling in a lab?
- analog31 10mo ago
  Not that hard. A dilution fridge, used for instance for cooling quantum computers, can go much lower: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilution_refrigerator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilution_refrigerator
wizardforhire 10mo ago
Thanks! Was gonna be lazy and say… temp or is doesn't matter.
wasabi991011 10mo ago
Quantum devices are already cooled to that temperature (at least for some technologies), so it's not a problem in that use case.

> ...allows it to carry current with zero resistance at 3.5 Kelvin (about -453 degrees Fahrenheit) Seems to me this is a problem.

fnands 10mo ago

It's an interesting result, but yeah, not a room temperature superconductor.

zahlman 10mo ago
For that matter, we've had superconductors for decades that work at much higher temperatures than this one.
- rwmj 10mo ago
  It seems the breakthrough is that you could use familiar semiconductor manufacturing processes. However the temperature is still going to be a major issue. I don't want a computer that requires liquid helium cooling.
  - zahlman 10mo ago
    > you could use familiar semiconductor manufacturing processes. Unclear to me why that's helpful. Materials that superconduct at a higher temperature than this one aren't hard to come by, or obscure: > In 1913, lead was found to superconduct at 7 K,
    - lazide 10mo ago
      Probably because they don’t behave well for normal lithography techniques? The high temp superconductors I know of are weird meta materials, and good luck getting them to exist in chip form at all.
  - pwg 10mo ago
    > I don't want a computer that requires liquid helium cooling. True, but I /can/ see someone, such as Sandia National Labs, very much willing to install a liquid helium cooled computer if it provides a significant performance increase above their existing supercomputer installations.

throwaway173738 10mo ago

Isn’t that very close to the practical limit for cooling in a lab?

analog31 10mo ago
Not that hard. A dilution fridge, used for instance for cooling quantum computers, can go much lower: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilution_refrigerator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilution_refrigerator

wizardforhire 10mo ago

Thanks! Was gonna be lazy and say… temp or is doesn't matter.

wasabi991011 10mo ago

Quantum devices are already cooled to that temperature (at least for some technologies), so it's not a problem in that use case.