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Comment by kijin

Calling it "LK-99" seems to have been a mistake. It gives the impression that the term refers to a well-defined material, perhaps even a mass-produced product like "iPhone 14" or "RTX 4080". This explains all the calls for the original authors to send samples, as if you were ordering from AliExpress.

In reality, what we have is a family of lead-copper-phosphorus-oxygen compounds, each with a different crystal structure, some of which might or might not exhibit interesting properties.

If this hype doesn't fizzle out soon, scientists will probably converge on more neutral, precise terminology to refer to the various configurations in order to avoid talking past one another. Something like β-LK99-Cu-5-7.

parent kijin 3 years ago

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