Start as a top student and move towards the stars and the sea

Different from insulators in the conventional sense, topological insulators are special materials with internal insulation but an interface that allows charge movement.

Studying topological insulators is of great significance and can provide an in-depth understanding of various basic issues in quantum physics and condensed matter physics.

Moreover, this material also has great application prospects in the field of quantum computing.

Ning Chen believes that through this research, it will be of great help to his physics level.

The next day, Ning Chen got up early and came to the laboratory after breakfast.

Arriving at the entrance of the laboratory, Ning Chen found that the laboratory had not opened yet, so he stood outside and waited.

This can't be blamed on others, after all, Ning Chen arrived a little early, and most laboratories were not open at this time.

At eight o'clock in the morning, a man walked towards Ren Mingshan's laboratory.

"Classmate, are you Ning Chen?"

A sweet female voice came. Ning Chen turned around and found a girl who looked very young.

If she wasn't in college, Ning Chen would have thought she was a high school student, but now that she has reached the stage of entering the laboratory, she should be at least a senior.

"Yes, I am Ning Chen."

"Well, that's right, come in with me."

Ning Chen felt that it was Ren Mingshan who mentioned what he had explained to her, so he didn't rush to ask more questions.

The two entered the laboratory together. The girl was preparing for the experiment and said to Ning Chen:

"I heard that you came to Yanda for exchanges before. I didn't expect that you would come to our laboratory today. Let me introduce myself. My name is Qi Wan. Now Boyi, um... you should call me senior sister."

After hearing Qi Wan's words, Ning Chen asked in surprise:

"Have you already finished your first degree?"

Ning Chen looked at Qi Wan and always felt that she looked like an underage girl.

"Why, doesn't it look like it?"

"Unlike, if you say you are a high school student, I don't think many people will doubt it."

"How old do you think I am?"

Ning Chen thought for a while, if it was Bo Yi, the normal age would be about 25 years old.

"Twenty-two or three years old?" Ning Chen asked.

"Actually, I'm only nineteen years old this year. I went to school relatively early, skipped a few grades in the middle, and was admitted to YCU through physical education at the age of fifteen. Now I'm in my first year of direct education. Hey, many people think of me as a high school student. I am so worried about life."

Seeing Qi Wan say this, Ning Chen couldn't help but marvel.

Ning Chen recalled that when he was fifteen years old, he was just a freshman in high school. Not to mention high school competitions, he had only just learned various speed-changing sports in high school physics.

And Qi Wan can be recommended to Yan University at this age. This result must at least reach the level of the national training team, which is the level of the top 50 in the country.

Thinking about it this way, sometimes the gap between people is really wider than the gap between people and dogs.

However, this also shows that Qi Wan not only looks young, but is also very young in real age.

"Then you can't say she is my senior sister. I am also a Bo Yi now, and in terms of age, I am one year older than you."

"What, you're also going to B.A. I? I remember you were only in your sophomore year?"

"Yes, but that was already last semester. You can skip a grade, and so can I." Ning Chen said with a smile.

"So, you finished your undergraduate degree in two years? You are really perverted!"

Ning Chenxin said that he was able to graduate so quickly with the help of system plug-ins, and Qi Wan was the real pervert.

Qi Wan seemed to suddenly think of something again, and his frown suddenly relaxed.

"No, you should still call me senior sister. This seniority is based on the time you enter the laboratory. Today is your first day in the laboratory. I have been in the laboratory for several months."

In fact, if it was really a doctoral student who was older than him, it would be okay for Ning Chen to call him senior sister. After all, he was coming to study in a new environment, so he had to be polite when meeting people.

But facing Qi Wan, a girl who was in the same grade as him and even younger than him, Ning Chen really couldn't call her "senior sister".

Ning Chen had an idea and said:

"It's not impossible to call me Senior Sister, but since you are younger than me, the most I can do is call you 'Senior Sister'."

Hearing this strange title from Ning Chen, Qi Wan curled her lips and said:

"Forget it, this is too unpleasant. You'd better just call me by my name."

Qi Wan saw that she could not be Ning Chen's senior sister, so she had to give up the idea and told Ning Chen about their experimental topic.

Through Qi Wan's narration, Ning Chen quickly understood the main research content of this topic.

This topic mainly studies the properties of surface states of topological insulators, including electronic standing waves, Landau quantization, etc.

The experimental operations in the entire project are not complicated, but they involve a lot of data processing and theoretical analysis. This is the difficulty of this project.

"Ning Chen, do you understand what I said?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Then let me take a look at my experimental operation first and study it carefully. I will only demonstrate it to you once."

Ning Chen said in his heart that as a "senior sister", she had the airs to be a senior sister, but Ning Chen didn't say anything and just watched Qi Wan's operations silently.

In this experimental subject, the main measuring instrument needed is a scanning tunneling microscope (STM).

When Ning Chen usually did experiments, the only microscope equipment he used was scanning electron microscopes and transmission electron microscopes. This was Ning Chen's first time coming into contact with this new equipment.

Unlike other microscopes, scanning tunneling microscopes have higher spatial resolution and are often used to measure the properties of various surface states of particles.

After watching Qi Wan's operations, Ning Chen had memorized the details of Qi Wan's previous operations.

"How's it going? Have you learned it?"

"Yes, I learned it."

"Really? It's up to you to operate it. But let me remind you, the price of this instrument is two hundred thousand. If it breaks... I can't afford to pay for it anyway."

Ning Chenxin said that he could still afford to pay for a 200,000 yuan instrument.

Of course, Ning Chen would definitely not act rashly without being prepared.

Although this was Ning Chen's first contact with a scanning tunneling microscope, after all, there were similarities between the various microscopes.

In addition, Qi Wan had just explained the operating steps and precautions of this instrument in detail, and Ning Chen was confident that he could operate it normally.

"It doesn't matter. If it breaks, it's mine."

Seeing what Ning Chen said, Qi Wan also gave the instrument to Ning Chen.

Ning Chen first placed the measurement sample on the sample stage, pointed it at the probe of the microscope, then turned on the power of the microscope and adjusted the distance between the sample and the probe.

This distance is not so easy to control. It cannot be too far or too close. Otherwise, the ideal three-dimensional structure diagram will not be obtained.

At the beginning, Ning Chen was constantly making adjustments, looking for the most suitable distance.

However, after a period of adaptation, Ning Chen quickly found the feel and completed the first measurement.

Looking at the three-dimensional structure diagram of the material surface displayed on the screen, Qi Wan was also very surprised.

"No, Ning Chen, is this really your first time using STM?"