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Earlier this month, the science community was abuzz with news of a possible breakthrough: a substance called LK-99 that’s alleged to be a room-temperature superconductor. Discovered by Lee Sukbae and Kim Ji-Hoon from Korea university, the material would be a game changer for everything from power delivery to super computers, if it works as advertised. However, after a number of scientists tried and failed to reproduce Lee and Kim’s’ findings, the world seems to have moved on. 

But the field of superconductors is a fast-changing one. Newly-published, pre-print theoretical research generally continues to support LK-99 as having the properties required to become a superconductor; and now, internet sleuths have discovered a Korean-language update on the original LK-99 patent. This document presents further details (and also new questions) regarding the synthesis process, even as the original Korean authors reaffirm the significance (and veracity) of their discovery.

Unfortunately, what we’re still left with is an incomplete picture of LK-99 – one that will seemingly require much more effort in understanding than some would lead us to believe. But the paper does have what’s required: a graph plotting LK-99’s resistivity. Crucially, the graph says it does drop to zero.

Let’s start with the updated patent itself, which describes two techniques to synthesize the relevant, superconducting bits in LK-99. One of those techniques is one we know already: solid state synthesis is the process we followed across the internet, and the one being used by most scientists attempting to replicate the original paper’s really bad recipe. It involves reacting the different compounds within LK-99 in order to obtain a crystal-like final compound of copper-doped lead apatite (mixing lanarkite and copper phosphide, themselves compounds made from reacting lead oxide with lead sulfide and reacting copper with phosphorous, respectively).

There were already a number of problems with the actual recipe, but the updated patent throws yet another wrench in the equation by suddenly including Si (the silicon we know and love) within the mixture. It’s also unclear how silicon got there and how relevant it is for the superconduction itself (if it’s relevant for that at all, which currently doesn’t seem like it is). There does seem to be a pattern in which the original Korean team led by Lee Sukbae isn’t able to provide good documentation. In fairness, it’s also possible that crucial details are simply lost within the bowels of machine translation, or to the speed at which they’ve seemingly put everything together.

At the same time, the authors admit that yes, the resulting lead-apatite compound is typically an insulator (which prevents electrical current from coursing through it, the exact opposite of what we’re trying to achieve here). But they also reiterate that copper doping – which leads to lead atoms being replaced with copper atoms within LK-99 – is key to unlock the claimed superconductivity capability (oxygen atoms are also important, it seems). We already covered this possibility in more detail here, as well as the issue with yield (the proportion of  superconducting material produced through the synthesis process). According to the updated patent, Lee’s team saw samples with a ratio of 48.9% superconductive lead apatite; 40% of non-superconductive lead compounds; and copper compounds (11.1%).

This coexistence between superconductive and non-superconductive compounds may be the reason why certain LK-99 internet videos (if legitimate LK-99) showcased a phenomenon dubbed flux pinning, where external magnetic fields are able to penetrate the superconductor compound through the parts of it that aren’t superconductive (everything that isn’t lead-apatite), pinning it in place.

But it seems that solid state synthesis wasn’t how Lee’s team discovered the (alleged) emergent superconductivity of LK-99. This was done through a technique known as vapor deposition; through it, the same compounds were reacted, but instead of the objective being to end up with an LK-99 crystal, the technique instead allows for the reaction’s vapors to collect against a glass structure, creating a thin film of the compound. According to Sukbae and his team, this film is forged in the 100 degrees Celsius – 400 degrees Celsius temperature range (with a black film of lead sulfide (PbS) in the lower temp area, a white film of lanarkite (Pb2SO5) in the higher temp area, and a gray film of lead appatite in the intermediate area.

It’s from this gray lead-apatite, micron-thick film that the authors insist room-temperature, ambient-pressure superconductivity emerges. The authors also pre-emptively refer state that impurities of iron (Fe) and other elements also emerge from the synthesis process, and that these impurities are well-known sources of ferromagnetism and diamagnetism – some of the features other studies have already encountered and replicated. 

But  it may have been premature to consider those results as proof that LK-99 is a dud. According to the authors, these magnetic features make it more difficult to see the actual Meissner Effect in action, with less cautious onlookers assuming that LK-99’s levitation capabilities ended at those types of magnetism.

The precise method to identify and measure the Meissner Effect’s telltale repulsion of external magnetic fields lies in applying a very low magnetic field with what’s called a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID). If done while heating and cooling LK-99, the SQUID will then be able to detect the Meissner Effect as it emerges within LK-99’s superconducting state: within two of its three critical temperature phase transitions. These phase transitions themselves correspond to changes in the material’s structure that then allow superconductivity (the ordered and resistivity-less movement of electrons) to occur.

Which brings us to the latest paper from Vayssilov et al at Sofia University, which also suggests that LK-99 could have the required properties to become a superconductor (do note that once again, there’s no mention of room-temperature or ambient-pressure). The general idea presented in the paper is that there are two ways that could happen: by removing certain oxygen atoms from their places, potential highways for superconductivity appear, with space that was previously occupied by atomic nuclei now being open for electron pairs (the so-called Cooper pairs) to skirt around. Another proposal from the paper is that this same effect can be achieved through the Cu doping we’ve talked about.

Following this LK-99 saga, there’s also been a few articles posted to Arxiv that don’t necessarily deal with LK-99 itself, but with certain systematic errors and incomplete knowledge on magnetism surrounding superconductor research and the theory applied to reach (supposedly correct) results. 

The authors say that they have run LK-99 through a scanning electron microscope in all of its phases as they occur in both production outputs (the film from vapor deposition and the compound from solid state synthesis). According to them, it’s easier to measure and replicate LK-99’s superconductivity results in the film-like material. 

With the authors’ description of how to detect the Meissner effect now published, additional researchers may apply this new knowledge to their replication attempts. Whether or not that will result in any positive replications – and whether that will come sooner rather than later – remains to be seen.

Nvidia, which just earned over $10 billion in one quarter on its datacenter-oriented compute GPUs, plans to at least triple output of such products in 2024, according to the Financial Times, which cites sources with knowledge of the matter. The move is very ambitious and if Nvidia manages to pull it off and demand for its A100, H100 and other compute CPUs for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) applications remains strong, this could mean incredible revenue for the company.

Demand for Nvidia’s flagship H100 compute GPU is so high that they are sold out well into 2024, the FT reports. The company intends to increase production of its GH100 processors by at least threefold, the business site claims, citing three individuals familiar with Nvidia’s plans. The projected H100 shipments for 2024 range between 1.5 million and 2 million, marking a significant rise from the anticipated 500,000 units this year. 

Because Nvidia’s CUDA framework is tailored for AI and HPC workloads, there are hundreds of applications that only work on Nvidia’s compute GPUs. While both Amazon Web Services and Google have their own custom AI processors for AI training and inference workloads, they also have to buy boatloads of Nvidia compute GPUs as their clients want to run their applications on them. 

But increasing the supply of Nvidia H100 compute GPUs, GH200 Grace Hopper supercomputing platform, and products on their base is not going to be easy. Nvidia’s GH100 is a complex processor that is rather hard to make. To triple its output, it has to get rid of several bottlenecks. 

Firstly, the GH100 compute GPU is a huge piece of silicon with a size of 814 mm^2, so it’s pretty hard to make in huge volumes. Although yields of the product are likely reasonably high by now, Nvidia still needs to secure a lot of 4N wafer supply from TSMC to triple output of its GH100-based products. A rough estimate suggests TSMC and Nvidia can get at most 65 chips per 300 mm wafer.

To manufacture 2 million such chips would thus require nearly 31,000 wafers — certainly possible, but it’s a sizeable fraction of TSMC’s total 5nm-class wafer output, which is around 150,000 per month. And that capacity is currently shared between AMD CPU/GPU, Apple, Nvidia, and other companies.

Secondly, GH100 relies on HBM2E or HBM3 memory and uses TSMC’s CoWoS packaging, so Nvidia needs to secure supply on this front as well. Right now, TSMC is struggling to meet demand for CoWoS packaging.

Thirdly, because H100-based devices use HBM2E, HBM3, or HBM3E memory, Nvidia will have to get enough HBM memory packages from companies like Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix.

Finally, Nvidia’s H100 compute cards or SXM modules have to be installed somewhere, so Nvidia will need to ensure that its partners also at least triple output of their AI servers, which is another concern.

But if Nvidia can supply all of the requisite H100 GPUs, it certainly stands to make a massive profit on the endeavor next year.

Today’s highlighted deals include a selection of the best gaming laptops from the very green gamer-oriented company with all the snakes, Razer. Currently, there are promotional sales across product lineups that use Intel CPUs with Intel’s Gamer Days event. This event covers more than just Razer products, of course, but this post has a theme. As well as reductions on Razer Blade laptops, you can also get two free computer games (Nightingale, and Assassins Creed: Mirage) with qualifying purchases of 12th or 13th Gen Intel Core i7 or i9 Razer Blade laptops.

A mid-sized system, the Razer Blade 15 (RTX 3080 Ti) is reduced to $2,499 in the Intel Gamer Days promotional event. It features a high-speed refresh rate of 360 Hz on an FHD panel measuring 15.6 inches.

If you want something a little larger there’s always the Razer Blade 17 (RTX 3070 Ti) for $1,999. This portable gaming station comes with a larger 17.3-inch screen, 240Hz refresh rate, and higher pixel density thanks to a QHD resolution. 

Keep scrolling for more of today’s deals.

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The Samsung 990 Pro, one of the best SSDs, was launched last year in 1TB and 2TB flavors. Making good on its promise to release a 4TB version, Samsung has confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that the speedy PCIe 4.0 SSD will hit the market soon.

Samsung’s position on PCIe 5.0 SSDs is a bit complex. While the company has some enterprise drives that leverage the PCIe 5.0 interface, it has yet to launch a consumer PCIe 5.0 SSD. The Samsung 990 Pro, an M.2 2280 drive, is still on the PCIe 4.0 interface and is currently the brand’s fastest consumer drive. The company has followed up with a 4TB variant, doubling the Samsung 990 Pro’s 2TB capacity. Samsung doesn’t always offer the 4TB capacity with all its SSDs. For example, the Samsung 980 Pro, the predecessor to the Samsung 990 Pro, maxed out at 2TB.

The Samsung 990 Pro 4TB will arrive in a bare drive (MZ-V9P4T0BW) and heatsink (MZ-V9P4T0CW) versions. The SSD’s form factor and design allow it to live inside many devices, including laptops, desktops, and consoles like the PlayStation 5. Therefore, the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB isn’t just an SSD for PC consumers. It’s a drive that PlayStation 5 owners can look forward to due to its ample capacity and blistering performance.

While the manufacturer hasn’t listed the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB on its website, the drive is already mentioned in the product brochure. Similar to the other capacities, the new Samsung 990 Pro 4TB utilizes Samsung’s in-house Pascal SSD controller, which features an Arm design. The company produces Pascal on the 8nm process node. As for the NAND, the drive employs the same Samsung 176-layer TLC NAND as the other drives. The difference is that the die sizes are larger to hit 4TB.

Samsung 990 Pro Specifications

The Samsung 990 Pro 4TB SSD’s advertised performance mirrors that of the lower capacity 2TB version. The drive delivers sequential read and write speeds, hitting 7,450 MB/s and 6,900 MB/s, respectively. Meanwhile, the random performance is at 1,400,000 IOPS reads and 1,550,000 IOPS writes. The figures may look low compared to the PCIe 5.0 standard, but the Samsung 990 Pro can hang with some PCIe 5.0 drives on the market.

Besides the capacity, the difference between the 4TB and 2TB models is the size of the cache memory and the endurance. The Samsung 990 Pro 4TB has a 4GB LPDDR4 DRAM cache and a 2,400 TBW rating, twice that of the Samsung 990 Pro 2TB. As expected, Samsung backs the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB with a limited five-year warranty.

Pricing on the Samsung 990 Pro has improved significantly over the last few months. The 2TB bare drive had a $289.99 MSRP but retails for as low as $169.99 nowadays. The heatsink versions are typically more expensive than the bare drive models and have identical performance. The MSRP for the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB is unknown, but it shouldn’t remain a mystery for long since Samsung has already started teasing the upcoming SSD.