Chapter 649: You

In the United States, the town of Princeton is busier than usual.

With the injection of 50 million in funding, the scale of the superconducting thin film project has become even larger; the two laboratories have increased their teams by nearly half, now reaching 62 people.

The goal is also very clear: to create a high-performance flexible iron-based superconducting thin film, Lanio.

Office.

Although Professor Maxwell's face is full of fatigue, his eyes reveal excitement.

"The topological experiment was very successful. We have already been able to observe Majorana fermions on the crystal surface. Once successful, it will provide a key carrier for topological quantum computing!"

Kelen Xavier is reporting the latest experimental progress.

His tone is also somewhat excited; every improvement in performance means the gap with Xu Qingzhou's Gdirect superconducting thin film is narrowing.

Previously, although the Xia Nation had made breakthroughs in nickel-based superconductivity and YBCO tape mass production, the United States still occupied a dominant position in quantum computing, Europe in high-field magnets, and Japan in interface engineering.

The Xia Nation was merely large in quantity, but in high-end superconducting thin films, the United States still held the advantage.

But the appearance of Xu Qingzhou changed the existing situation at once.

"We want to try depositing Mote thin films on the surface of ITER-class magnets. If it goes smoothly, theoretically, it can increase the local magnetic field strength by 15%. This is the preliminary data."

Xavier hands over a few pages of reports.

After reading the experimental data, Maxwell nods and says, "A very interesting idea; you can try it. After all, what we lack least right now is funding."

"Good."

It is also at this moment that Professor Maxwell's phone rings.

He answers the call: "Good afternoon, Mr. Williams. Okay, I represent the team in thanking the committee for their trust... I will do my best..."

Two minutes later, Maxwell hangs up the phone.

Seeing Xavier looking at him, he says in a deep voice, "The second phase of funding has come down. Next Monday, 60 million will arrive in our account."

"Damn it, those misers at the Department of Energy are actually willing to take out so much money to support our experiments. Unbelievable!" Xavier exclaims.

"It's very obvious; they are anxious."

Professor Maxwell sighs and says helplessly, "Their negotiations with the Xia Nation are not going smoothly, and they are just preparing to add sanctions in certain areas. As for the Xia Nation side, they don't seem to intend to make concessions this time."

"With all due respect, as long as it's a normal person, it's impossible to make concessions. So they are placing their hopes on us? Even according to the current progress, I'm afraid we will need 1 year for our products to catch up with Xu Qingzhou's Gdirect superconducting thin film. The progress of technology lies in exchange; to be honest, I really want to see Xu Qingzhou and his team's superconducting thin film."

"Exchange? At the very least, that's impossible in the short term."

Professor Maxwell takes a sip of coffee and says, "Xu Qingzhou is already in contact with German equipment manufacturers, preparing to buy their equipment to go back and work on controllable nuclear fusion. Buddy, the future situation won't be better than it is now; the competition will be even more intense..."

Xavier is noncommittal, knowing that what the other party said is the truth.

"By the way, Brick will send people to participate in our experiments so that we can design superconducting magnets sooner."

The Brick team at Princeton is developing a micro-tokamak wrapped in all-high-temperature superconducting thin films, with a target magnetic field strength of 25T, to achieve higher plasma pressure than ITER.

"Brick has a rival."

"Yes, I don't know whether to call it lucky or unfortunate to have such a competitor."

The superconducting thin film experiment at Princeton is in full swing, while Xu Qingzhou is busy to the point of flying, spending his days soaked in the research institute for several days in a row.

Experts from the Institute of Plasma Physics have already completed the blueprint design, and in the suburbs of the Xiong'an New Area, piling construction has already begun, preparing to build a production line for superconducting magnets.

Over at the Max Planck Institute, they are also designing suitable superconducting magnets for stellarators based on Gdirect superconducting thin films, preparing for a major renovation of the stellarator.

Almost every day, outside experts visit the research institute.

February 16th.