LK-99

Noun

LK-99 (uncountable)

1. A gray–black polycrystalline compound, identified as a copper-doped lead‒oxyapatite, once claimed to be a superconductor at room temperature.
   • The prospects of LK-99, the controversial substance that its discoverers claim is a room temperature superconductor, living up its hype are dimming. In recent days, many scientists have synthesized the substance and published studies showing that it does not have superconductive properties, at...
   • Doping LK-99 is exactly what it sounds like: you take something that wasn't in the original recipe (in this case, for lead-apatite) and you put it inside the system to improve its performance. In this case, the new results, penned by Liang Si et al and Korotin et al, find reason to believe that...
   • Although initial analysis from other teams found that LK-99 already had the 'Fermi' flat bands necessary for electrons to cross unimpeded and frictionlessly (as they'd need for the zero resistance claim to be true), others have theorized that it needs some help getting there: there's still work to...2023 August 10, Francisco Pires, “Alleged Superconductor LK-99 Might Need 'Doping' to Work”, in Tom's Hardware, archived from the original on 20 Jul 2025