Deep Learning Model for Finding New Superconductors
This work addresses the inefficient, trial-and-error process in superconductor discovery, offering a data-driven approach that could accelerate the identification of new high-temperature superconductors for materials science and physics.
The researchers tackled the problem of discovering new superconductors by developing a deep learning model that predicts superconductivity and critical temperature (Tc) from chemical compositions, achieving an R^2 of 0.92 for Tc prediction and 62% precision in identifying superconductors, including novel materials not in the training data.
Exploration of new superconductors still relies on the experience and intuition of experts and is largely a process of experimental trial and error. In one study, only 3% of the candidate materials showed superconductivity. Here, we report the first deep learning model for finding new superconductors. We introduced the method named "reading periodic table" which represented the periodic table in a way that allows deep learning to learn to read the periodic table and to learn the law of elements for the purpose of discovering novel superconductors that are outside the training data. It is recognized that it is difficult for deep learning to predict something outside the training data. Although we used only the chemical composition of materials as information, we obtained an $R^{2}$ value of 0.92 for predicting $T_\text{c}$ for materials in a database of superconductors. We also introduced the method named "garbage-in" to create synthetic data of non-superconductors that do not exist. Non-superconductors are not reported, but the data must be required for deep learning to distinguish between superconductors and non-superconductors. We obtained three remarkable results. The deep learning can predict superconductivity for a material with a precision of 62%, which shows the usefulness of the model; it found the recently discovered superconductor CaBi2 and another one Hf0.5Nb0.2V2Zr0.3, neither of which is in the superconductor database; and it found Fe-based high-temperature superconductors (discovered in 2008) from the training data before 2008. These results open the way for the discovery of new high-temperature superconductor families. The candidate materials list, data, and method are openly available from the link https://github.com/tomo835g/Deep-Learning-to-find-Superconductors.