First fully computer-designed superconductor | KurzweilAI

First fully computer-designed superconductor | KurzweilAI: Several years ago, Kolmogorov, then at Oxford University, began studying boron-based materials, which have complex structures and a wide range of applications. He developed an automated computational tool to identify previously unknown stable crystal structures. His “evolutionary” algorithm emulates nature, meaning it favors more stable materials among thousands of possibilities.

The search revealed two promising compounds in a common iron-boron system, which came as a surprise. Moreover, a graduate student’s calculations indicated that one of them should be a superconductor at an unusually high temperature of 15–20 Kelvin for the “conventional” type of superconductivity.