183: Chapter 183 A New Direction for Room Temperature Superconductivity!

Inside the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the massive Archives Building stood six stories tall.

It stored nearly all the records of domestic scientific research from the past fifty years, including paper documents and digital data.

There was also a vast amount of confidential research material that was completely inaccessible to the outside world; it could only be viewed here.

The iron door let out a soft creak as Zhou Fan followed Academician Yu Fei into a narrow corridor, the scent of ink unique to old paper lingering at the tip of his nose.

Sunlight filtered through the somewhat vintage carved window lattices, casting diamond-shaped spots of light on the floor, while floating dust particles were clearly visible in the beams of light.

"The west wing of the third floor is the Materials Science Branch; all literature from 1952 to the present is there."

Academician Yu Fei's voice was kept very low, his brow slightly furrowed, and his tone was serious.

"According to regulations, accessing classified materials requires approval from the vice-ministerial level or above. However, regarding the superconductivity-related material archives and literature you want to check... I've secured three days of clearance for you. This is already the maximum duration within my authority!"

"Thank you, Old Yu. You've really been a huge help!"

Zhou Fan's gaze fell upon the densely packed bookcases inside the room, a spark of light flickering in his eyes. At a glance, he spotted a recorded document from the 1987 High-Temperature Superconductivity Symposium; the edges of the pages had become brittle, and faint traces of fountain pen corrections could be seen.

In his past life, he had seen a photocopied version of this record, but he hadn't expected the original to be here.

Zhou Fan's fingertips tapped lightly on the glass cabinet. "The information here is of great significance to my upcoming research. There's also a lot of knowledge in materials science that needs further analysis and organization. I will make the most of these few days. Sorry for the trouble, Old Yu!"

Academician Yu Fei sighed. After a moment's thought, he couldn't help but speak up: "The waters of Room-Temperature Superconductivity are too deep. So many people have spent their entire lives trapped in them. Your talent in lithography machines shouldn't be wasted on such illusory research."

He looked at Zhou Fan's young but exceptionally steady profile, remembering the day half a year ago when the 45nm lithography succeeded. This kid had the same expression then, as if nothing could disturb his thoughts, with a light shining in his eyes that others couldn't understand.

Sometimes he couldn't help but think that this kid looked just like one of them old fogies.

He didn't have any of the youthful energy of a young person at all.

Yet, when he thought about Zhou Fan's drive and ambition for research projects, he could tangibly feel that sharp edge.

He felt that he was understanding this young man less and less.

"When you were researching Laser Crystals back then, weren't you also told it was wishful thinking?" Zhou Fan smiled, his gaze sweeping over the dense archive boxes on the shelves. Terms like 'Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide' and 'Magnesium Diborane' on the labels acted like magnets, drawing his attention.

Yang Tian, who was guarding the door, couldn't help but interject upon hearing their conversation: "Old Yu, President Zhou even managed to create a lithography machine. Maybe he really can handle superconductivity?"

Academician Yu Fei glanced at him, a helpless smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Do you think superconductivity is just tightening screws? There are countless insurmountable technical chasms from theoretical breakthroughs to practical applications. From the discovery of superconductivity by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes in 1911 to the present, so many researchers have poured themselves into it, yet even now, technical breakthroughs are still stuck in the theoretical stage. Not even a proper direction for material research can be determined."

"Even if one spends their entire life in this field, they might not achieve a substantial breakthrough. It's not that easy!"

"Is it really that hard?" Yang Tian clicked his tongue inwardly. He wasn't clear on these things; he just felt that since Zhou Fan was so capable, whatever he set out to do would surely succeed.

Academician Yu Fei turned to look at Zhou Fan again and sighed helplessly. "I don't object to your research, but don't get stuck in a dead end. I'll come pick you up in three days."

"Alright!" Zhou Fan smiled and didn't say much more.

The heavy doors closed behind him, the sound echoing through the empty reading room.

Zhou Fan took a deep breath, walked to the bookshelf labeled 'TC-07', and pulled out the archive box from the top shelf.

The documents inside the box were tied with a blue ribbon. The first page was an experimental report from the 1962 Moscow Institute of Low-Temperature Physics, written in neat Russian script.

In his past life, he had only glanced through these precious materials and hadn't focused on organizing or analyzing them. Back then, he didn't have his current photographic memory. This time, he planned to spend three days going through every single piece of literature and data related to materials science in here.

If time permitted, with the boost from his special ability, perhaps he could gain some new inspiration.

His fingertips brushed over the pages, his pupils slightly contracting. He had seen a scanned copy of this specific material in his past life, but looking at it again now, he still felt he was gaining something.

"Let's begin!" Zhou Fan took out his own notebook, his pen moving rapidly across the paper unconsciously.

His memory was like a precision scanner; the content he scanned was instantly archived in his mind, and he could even automatically correlate similar conclusions from different documents.

Three hours later, the reading table was already piled with several stacks of archives half a meter high.

Zhou Fan flipped to an internal report from the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences dated 1998, which mentioned 'abnormal critical current density of Niobium-Tin Compounds under strong magnetic fields,' with a red pen annotation on the side saying 'needs verification of oxygen doping effects.'

"Oxygen doping... Niobium..." He suddenly stopped his pen, tapping heavily on the word 'Niobium.'

The idea of adding Niobium to ternary batteries to improve stability—could that perhaps be applied to superconducting materials?

If trace oxygen atoms were introduced into a Niobium-Titanium Alloy, would it change the lattice structure and increase the critical temperature?

This thought surged through his nerves like an electric current. Zhou Fan stood up abruptly and began searching frantically through the bookshelves.

Soon, he pulled out a bound volume of the 1973 'Chinese Journal of Low Temperature Physics' and browsed it quickly. Subsequently, his fingers began to tremble slightly; one of the papers inside mentioned that the superconducting properties of niobium-based materials might be related to impurity atoms in the atomic gaps.

This caused the countless thoughts in his mind to instantly connect, giving him a sudden sense of enlightenment.

"So that's how it is." Zhou Fan leaned against the bookshelf and let out a long breath.

Countless fragmented pieces of information began to piece together in his mind: the stabilizing effect of niobium in ternary batteries, lattice defects in superconducting materials, the doping effect of oxygen atoms... a brand new research direction was gradually becoming clear.

The sky outside gradually darkened, and the administrator quietly changed a desk lamp. The warm yellow light illuminated his focused profile.

Zhou Fan was completely oblivious; the formula derivations under his pen had already filled dozens of pages.

...

Tesla Sea City Factory.

At the construction site, a giant crane was hoisting a steel structure to the top of the factory building.

Zhu Danyang stood in an open area of the site, watching the construction in full swing, but his brow was knitted into a tight knot.

"Where is the PR Department's report? What is the current state of public opinion?"

He took the coffee handed to him by his assistant, but the coldness of the cup couldn't suppress the irritation in his heart.

The assistant's voice beside him carried a hint of trepidation as she gritted her teeth and spoke: "Online public opinion is still very unfavorable to us. The company's image has been significantly affected. Especially since our brand has just entered the country, such image damage won't be easily recovered..."

She swiped the tablet in her hand and handed the post with the highest discussion on weibo to Zhu Danyang.

[Foreign Enterprises Actually Believe in Our Great China's Feng Shui: An Analysis of the Top-Tier Business War Between Tesla and Fanmi!]

Looking at the comments below the post, Zhu Danyang's expression became increasingly unsightly.