Unraveling the Enigma of LK-99: The Quest for Room-Temperature Superconductivity

The discovery of LK-99, a gray-black compound with the potential to exhibit room-temperature superconductivity, captured the imagination of the scientific community and beyond. LK-99 has ignited a fervent pursuit to understand and validate its unique properties. This article traces the journey of our department as we embarked on a mission to replicate and comprehend the elusive behavior of LK-99. From its origins in a Korean research team's efforts to its controversial claims and replication attempts, we delve into the scientific intrigue surrounding LK-99 and its implications for the world of materials science.

PCFES 2023

On 15/6-18/6, we organized the 14th annual conference Prague Colloquium on f-Electron Systems (PCFES). The participants comprised colleagues interested in the physics of lanthanides and actinides, from many countries around the world, from Canada and Argentina to Japan. Among the diverse topics, the unconventional superconductivity of the compound UTe2, discovered in 2019, and the properties of other uranium tellurides dominated. The extreme resistance to magnetic field and the existence of several separate superconducting phases promises to shed new light on the very principles of superconductivity.

Garden Party

Ross Colman as a head of the Group of magnetism organizes regularly a Garden party. An informal meeting at the Tuchotice yard took place this year for the third time already and promisingly creates a tradition of meetings the members of our group in a friendly and relaxing atmosphere.

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The Magnetism Group studies physical phenomena originating from the behavior of electrons in matter. Throughout the group, we prepare and study a range of materials ranging from: lanthanoid and uranium-based intermetallics, magnetic-shape-memory Heusler alloys, and frustrated magnetic oxides, to van der Waal and misfit layer materials. Using both our range of preparation and crystal growth facilities, as well as our extensive suite of properties measurements instruments, we are steadily building bridges-of-understanding linking the electronic structure of this wide range of materials to the observed magnetic and electronic properties. We also investigate the tuning of these properties using both high-magnetic fields and high pressures.

## Students wanted!!

Choose one of our topics:

Topological superconductivity in unconventional superconductors.
Magnetism in unconventional superconductors.
Correlated electron systems with unconventional superconductivity.
Topological phases in correlated electron systems.
Quantum criticality in unconventional superconductors.
Non-Fermi liquids in unconventional superconductors.
Exchange interactions in unconventional superconductors.
Phase diagrams of unconventional superconductors.
Superconductivity in the presence of disorder.
Unconventional superconductivity in low dimensional systems.

Actual offer of students' theses:

Upcoming seminars

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What do we explore?

magnetism
superconductivity
quantum effects
frustrated systems
layered 2D structures including Van der Waals systems and misfit layers

How do we go about it?

Preaparation of unique samples, often as high-quality single crystals
Studies down to extremely low temperatures
The application of strong magnetic fields and external pressures
Hydrogenation as a mechanism to expand metallic lattices
Cooperation with the theoretical group for explanation of the observed effects

What do we offer?

A wide range of sample preparation and crystal growth techniques to prepare interesting new materials
The possibility to measure with a wide range of techniques, as well as under multi-extreme conditions
A young and dynamic scientific team with numerous visiting foreign nationals
Operation with specific instruments in the home laboratory and foreign infrastructures as well (sources of neutron and synchrotron radiation)