From top student in college to scientific research powerhouse

Chapter 54: A Global Problem of Immense Military Significance!
After the conversation in the reception room ended, Wang Zhigang and the other two declined the school's warm hospitality.

Tan Yanming, Zhang Minghao, and others saw them off to the car that had come to pick them up.

Wang Zhigang opened the car door and waved goodbye to those behind him. He met Zhang Minghao's gaze, managed a weak smile, and then quickly got into the car.

Zhao Anrong and Xu Zhen also got into the car.

The three sat down side by side.

They remained silent for a long time, and the car drove on for who knows how far.

Wang Zhigang gave a wry smile and sighed, "Young people these days really know how to roast people!"

"What did he just say? Someone of my caliber probably wouldn't have thought of that?"

"My class..."

He was still embarrassed as he spoke, and what made him even more frustrated was that he really hadn't thought of it at the time.

Zhao Anrong shook his head with a smile, "Why would you ask such a question? Material property calculations for metamaterials? He has no access to that at all."

Xu Zhen chimed in, "He's right. Metamaterials manufacturing isn't something just anyone can research."

Metamaterials manufacturing is not something anyone can research.

Metamaterials are the most cutting-edge research area in materials science and are considered to represent the future of materials in various fields.

However, metamaterials have a short history of development, and some research directions involve military applications. Most of the research and experimental data are classified.

Publicly available research and experimental papers mainly cover theoretical and basic content.

Metamaterial manufacturing presents extremely high research demands and challenges.

There are very few institutions in China that have the research and development environment for metamaterials manufacturing.

The Institute of Science and Technology is one of them.

They are key national research institutions, and many of their research projects involve military applications, so they naturally have abundant research resources.

Even so, doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows at the Institute of Science and Technology can only access peripheral data on metamaterials, because the core experimental data are classified.

Zhang Minghao is a doctoral student at Jiangzhou University, and his supervisor only works in the university's research institutions.

He certainly has no access to metamaterials manufacturing.

The question-and-answer session between Wang Zhigang and Zhang Minghao was like a rich person asking a poor person if they understand investing.

The poor man said, "I also want to understand investing, but I don't have money. You may not understand, but most people don't have money to invest."

In the end, he almost blurted out, "If you want me to understand investing, give us a large sum of money first!"

Wang Zhigang understood the unspoken meaning and became even more embarrassed, because he had no way to discuss the funding issue.

They just came to check things out.

To put it bluntly, they came to learn about the technology, see if it could be used for military purposes, and then go back to report to their superiors.

After discussing the awkward topic, the three returned to the main subject and talked about the invisible ball technology.

In the reception room, Wang Zhigang remained calm throughout, but in reality, he was extremely shocked.

He exclaimed, "I never imagined that they could achieve optical stealth performance with a combination of particles that are only a few hundred micrometers in size."

"I originally thought that only metamaterials could achieve this."

Zhao Anrong focused on another issue: "The invisible ball technology is crucial."

"This technology can control infrared light, that is, it can control infrared radiation."

"Of great significance!"

Wang Zhigang immediately realized, "You mean infrared radar detection?"

"That's right!"

Zhao Anrong said seriously, "Adding this layer of infrared radiation control to military equipment can shield most of the infrared radiation, rendering the infrared radar ineffective."

"This technology can be used on aircraft, submarines, and ships, especially at sea, where it will be very effective."

Infrared radar is one of the methods for detecting submarines and ships.

For example, stealth submarines are equipped with heat-insulating layers on their outer surface, which can effectively reduce the infrared radiation emitted by the submarine. However, the problem is that adding heat-insulating layers can only reduce the detection range of enemy radar, rather than completely shielding it from detection.

If infrared radiation can be controlled, the enemy's infrared radar can be rendered ineffective.

The military potential of this technology is enormous.

"Another point is that they use ordinary materials, so the cost is very low," Zhao Anrong added.

Low cost is an advantage.

With its low cost and high effectiveness, the military applications of this technology are even more significant.

……

Wang Zhigang and the other two left.

Zhang Minghao and Sun Wen chatted for a while and both felt that the other seemed unreliable.

They asked a whole bunch of questions and then left?
He almost directly asked for funding, but the other party dodged the question, refusing to discuss funding and only talking about technology, technology, technology...

"Could these three people be imposters?"

"You're here to steal our technology?"

Zhang Minghao had his doubts, so he specifically asked Tan Yanming. Only after learning that Tan Yanming was an expert from the Institute of Science and Technology did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Before leaving, the other party left a message saying that the content of the conversation should be reported.

After that, it's just a matter of waiting for the results.

But how long does it take to wait for the results? There's the process of reporting to higher authorities, holding meetings to discuss it, then going through layers of evaluation and approval before a final decision is made…

Zhang Minghao felt exhausted just thinking about it.

The good news is that the school and the optical institute kept their word, and the promised one million yuan in funding arrived quickly.

Sun Wen can now prepare for the experiment.

The next step of the experiment cannot be done all at once. We need to wait for the ordered materials to arrive, then conduct material testing, prepare for the experiment, and so on. In short, it will take time.

Zhang Minghao also took a break for a while, and restarted his exercise plan the next day.

Long-distance running, weightlifting, push-ups...

He even considered going to the gym to work out, thinking that using various fitness equipment might be more effective.

A few days later, the physical assessment score rose to '65' points, bringing it one step closer to the goal of 70 points.

[Academic Reputation: 773.]

The improvement in academic reputation is significant, and it's only about 200 points away from the 1000-point upgrade requirement.

"It's over 200 points, can we just wait for it to rise slowly?"

Zhang Minghao pondered.

Having just finished a long-distance run, he was resting in the workroom, half-lying on a chair, when he realized that he seemed to be the only person not working in the lab.

Liao Shuyan and Xu Chao returned to the laboratory.

Chen Lanjun was busy working on the computer, presumably doing experimental data analysis.

Last week, Zhu Bingkun and Xue Kun stopped their experiments on new physical phenomena, perhaps because they had made no discoveries despite continuous experiments.

It's unclear whether that data is even meaningful.

Before securing new projects, I couldn't conduct experiments with high funding requirements, so I simply paused them and refocused on my original research.

In the direction of tinene.

Following Zhang Minghao's research direction, Chen Shuai became the core of the project.

All experiments relied on his analysis.

He has found three 'potential correlations' between the characteristics of the experimental product stanene and the bismuth telluride substrate, and the laboratory is also verifying these correlations.

"No progress..."

"The experimental results and the analysis results are different, so they might be wrong?"

"I wouldn't dare say that..."

Xu Chao and Liao Shuyan walked into the laboratory while talking.

Zhang Minghao stood up and asked curiously, "What is Professor Chen's analysis?"

He had never paid attention to it.

"I'll send it to you," Chen Lanjun said, turning her head, and quickly sent over a file.

Zhang Minghao opened the file and looked at it carefully.

Current research on tinene can be simply understood as 'what kind of substrate surface can maximize the promotion of the formation of ideal tinene'.

This is a very meaningful direction.

Stune, scientifically known as 'stanene', is a two-dimensional topological insulator material composed of a single layer of tin atoms, possessing the unique characteristic of coexisting 100% edge conductivity and superconductivity.

This property gives stanene revolutionary application potential in the field of electronic devices.

If a standard manufacturing method for stanene can be developed, it will bring about disruptive technological advancements to the semiconductor and electronic device industries.

Zhang Minghao carefully reviewed the document and gained an understanding of the three potentially related items.

He immediately used "Correct Perception".

Feedback from "Correct Perception" indicates that both the first and second associations are incorrect.

The last one is correct.

"There's a correct one!" Zhang Minghao was somewhat surprised. The last correlation mentioned that "the magnetism of the substrate surface is beneficial to the growth of tinene."

magnetic?
stanene growth?

Zhang Minghao frowned and immediately said to Liao Shuyan and Xu Chao, "I suggest you do an experiment on magnetic correlation; you might make a discovery."

"Why?" Xu Chao asked, puzzled.

Liao Shuyan said, "Professor Zhu believes that the first and second possibilities are more likely to be related."

Zhang Minghao paused for a moment, then said, "It's just my personal feeling."

Whether the other party listens or not, there's nothing we can do.

Liao Shuyan and Xu Chao exchanged a glance and decided to go to the side and discuss it in hushed tones.

Zhang Minghao didn't say anything more. He continued to look at the data analyzing magnetic correlations in the documents, while also thinking that he should pay more attention to the research in the applied electromagnetic laboratory.

Chen Shuai analyzed three 'suspected connections', and he was able to determine the 'correct' connections by relying on "Correct Perception".

In other words, he can guide the research, keeping it on the right track and preventing the waste of time and energy on meaningless experiments.

"On the condition that you all listen to me..."

Zhang Minghao muttered to himself, after all, he was not a researcher in the lab, nor a doctoral supervisor, and he did not have that kind of influence in experiments related to tinene.

His mind quickly turned to 'magnetic correlation'.

Such research, experimental proof is only one aspect; the most important thing is to explore the underlying principles so that we can use this to analyze the growth of tinene and the surface properties of the substrate.

When he actually began the analysis, he discovered that the research involved a very complex analytical problem concerning the description model of superconducting electron motion—

Ferm Hubbard model.

Stannine exhibits the characteristic of having both 100% edge conductivity and superconductivity.

Its electron motion can be understood as 'superconductivity'.

The magnetic properties of the substrate thin layer promote the growth of ideal tinene, which must be related to the problem of superconducting electron motion.

However, solving the fermion Hubbard model is a global challenge.

How can this be studied?

(End of this chapter)