Science Island Laboratory

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Science Island Laboratory
Original Name	科学岛实验室
Type	State-owned multidisciplinary laboratory
Location	Science Island, Fei City, Hui Province, China; situated near Shushan Lake 180 188
Affiliation	Closely affiliated with USTC; cooperates with the Plasma Institute 194 235
Occupation/Role	Research institution for mathematics, physics, condensed matter physics, and materials science
Director	Xiao Yi 181 188
Status	Operational and expanded
First Appearance	Chapter 180

Background / History

Science Island Laboratory was established after Hui Province, Fei City, and higher-level authorities approved a laboratory centered on Xiao Yi. Its original mission covered mathematics, physics, and condensed matter physics, with an initial budget of 500 million yuan: 400 million yuan for experimental instruments and 100 million yuan for construction materials. The Fei City government separately provided the Science Island land. The name was selected after comparison with location-named institutions such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, reflecting the ambition to become a world-renowned research institution 180 181.

Xiao Yi participated directly in the site selection and architectural design. Construction began after two months of design; the completed three-story building opened after roughly nine months. Its first two floors housed laboratories, while the third contained offices, a data room, lounge, and computer room 181 186 188.

The laboratory’s first major output was HTSC-1, a FeSe high-temperature superconductor. It jointly formed Hui Province Superconductivity Technology Co., Ltd. with the Hui Province SASAC: the laboratory supplied the technology, while the SASAC handled operations, management, and production. As the laboratory is entirely state-owned, HTSC-1 was also wholly state-owned 192.

Patent licensing from the lithium-sulfur solid-state battery project substantially strengthened the laboratory’s finances. Xiao Yi allocated 1 billion yuan from the licensing proceeds to the laboratory’s future budget, while Diaby and Linde Era each committed 300 million yuan over five years. The laboratory subsequently began a major expansion project 205 211.

By the beginning of 2025, the expansion had created dedicated Materials, Condensed Matter, and Mathematics and Physics Experimental Buildings, plus an administration building with a lecture hall, cafeteria, dormitories, and recreational areas 238 241.

Facilities

Original Experimental Building

The original building has a square white exterior, symmetrical square windows, and a prominent “Science Island Laboratory” inscription written by a high-ranking leader 188.

• Initial site: more than 10 mu of government-provided land; the completed campus was described as approximately 17–18 mu 181 188.
• Three floors, each with an effective area of about 10,000 square meters 188.
• First and second floors: experimental laboratories.
• Third floor: offices, data room, lounge, and computer room 188.
• Early functional rooms included:
  • Microscopy room, equipped with a fully configured 2022 Bruker Dimension Icon atomic force microscope.
  • Spectroscopy analysis room.
  • Sample-preparation room.
  • Thermal-analysis room.
  • Chemistry-analysis room 188.

Expanded Campus

The expansion was designed to separate the laboratory’s major disciplines and add supporting facilities 205 238 241.

• Materials Experimental Building — dedicated materials research space.
• Condensed Matter Experimental Building — the original building was designated for condensed matter research.
• Mathematics and Physics Experimental Building — located in the campus’s most scenic area and furnished to provide a comfortable long-term research environment 241.
• Administration Building — includes a 200-seat lecture hall, cafeteria, dormitories, and recreational areas 238.
• The campus was later enclosed by an exterior wall and operated at a scale comparable to a research institute, though it retained the Science Island Laboratory name 259.

Research

High-Temperature Superconductivity

The laboratory was created in part to provide Xiao Yi unrestricted access to high-end experimental equipment for studying high-temperature superconductivity. Its first major achievement, HTSC-1, was synthesized through work led by Xiao Yi and his team 180 188 189 192.

• Investigated the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity through XSC theory.
• Synthesized HTSC-1, a FeSe-based high-temperature superconductor.
• Supported technology transfer and production through Hui Province Superconductivity Technology Co., Ltd. 192.

Solid-State Lithium Batteries

Following HTSC-1, the laboratory developed a lithium-phosphorus-sulfur-chloride electrolyte using the Electron-Interface Reaction Migration Model and Material Mastery-guided design 201.

• Produced a lithium-sulfur solid-state battery with an energy density of 1231 Wh/kg.
• Reported no lithium-dendrite problem and stable performance across different temperatures 201.
• Patent licensing provided major funding for laboratory projects, infrastructure, salaries, and expansion 202 205.

Carbon and Nanoscale Physics

Xiao Yi and Liu Xiaodong’s work at the laboratory identified the aperture acceleration effect, a nanoscale physical phenomenon. The related paper was published in Science and brought the laboratory international attention 228.

• CERN planned to synthesize a 26 nm aperture carbon-nanotube porous material under Xiao Yi’s patent conditions 228.
• The discovery was described as one of the most important physics findings of the previous fifty years during a CCTV report 228.
• The work elevated the laboratory into the ranks of world-renowned laboratories, despite it having had only one experimental building less than two years earlier 228.

Advanced Materials

The laboratory developed several materials that attracted interest from military research institutions 231.

• MHT-1 — radar-absorbent material.
• MHT-2 — carbon-fiber board with exceptional strength and ballistic-impact resistance.
• MHT-3 — high-carrier-mobility material with potential application in carbon-based chips 231.

Personnel and Recruitment

The laboratory’s first external recruitment drive attracted more than 700 online written-test participants. One hundred advanced to an offline examination, and three Outstanding Young Scholars were exempted from the written test 193.

Xiao Yi personally interviewed 100 applicants and selected:

Position	Selected personnel
Full and associate researchers	17
Postdoctoral and assistant researchers	26
Outstanding Young Scholars	3

194

The laboratory’s recruitment terms included research funding of at least 100,000 yuan for postdoctoral researchers, plus minimum pre-tax monthly compensation of 35,000 yuan including salary, subsidies, allowances, housing benefits, and provident-fund contributions. Its postdoctoral researchers were not assigned fixed supervisors under its free-cooperation system 193.

During the later expansion, the laboratory recruited nearly 100 new researchers, including four additional Outstanding Young Scholars—one mathematician and three condensed-matter/materials researchers. Researchers cited ample funding, research freedom, limited meetings, and Xiao Yi’s academic guidance as major attractions 241.

Relationships

• Xiao Yi — Founder, director, principal designer, and the laboratory’s central researcher. Its reputation and international standing are closely tied to his achievements 181 188 228 270.
• USTC — Provides institutional support; its classrooms and staff were used for the laboratory’s early recruitment examinations, and many USTC professors held part-time research positions at the laboratory 194.
• Hui Province SASAC — Jointly established Hui Province Superconductivity Technology Co., Ltd. with the laboratory to operate and produce HTSC-1 192.
• Plasma Institute — Nearby Science Island collaborator on controlled-nuclear-fusion projects and the application for a new fusion experimental device 198 235 237.
• Huajian Group Engineering Bureau — Construction contractor for the original laboratory and its second-phase expansion 188 211.
• Liu Xiaodong — Postdoctoral researcher recruited in the first intake; co-discovered the aperture acceleration effect with Xiao Yi and represented the laboratory in a CCTV interview 194 228.
• Sun Lina — Researcher with priority access to the laboratory’s facilities after lending her own laboratory to Xiao Yi’s earlier work 188.
• Wang Hao — Xiao Yi’s assistant, responsible for helping manage the laboratory’s daily affairs and staffing matters 195.

Trivia

• The laboratory’s name was chosen because its broad fields—mathematics, physics, and condensed matter physics—did not form a concise title, while naming it directly after Xiao Yi was considered inappropriate 180.
• Its initial 500 million yuan construction budget excluded the value of the government-provided Science Island land, estimated at roughly 300–400 million yuan 181.
• The laboratory was initially too small to meet growing demand; Xiao Yi sometimes had to check room schedules despite being director 198.
• Its founding aim of reaching the level of laboratories such as Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory was considered largely achieved within a few years, though its standing remained heavily dependent on Xiao Yi 180 270.