News Archive | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Dancing Atoms in Perovskite Materials Provide Insight Into How Solar Cells Work

A new study is a step forward in understanding why perovskite materials work so well in energy devices and potentially leads the way toward a theorized “hot” technology that would significantly improve the efficiency of today’s solar cells.

Under Pressure, Opposites Attract

Argonne researchers have uncovered a new material that can produce both magnetism and superconductivity.

Shallow cumulus clouds gather over the Southern Great Plains atmospheric observatory.

LASSO Case Study: Tapping ARM’s Doppler Lidars

To improve models, researchers tap Doppler LIDARs to estimate critical cloud-based updrafts and downdrafts that carry heat and moisture.

A conceptual illustration of a neutron converting to a proton through an interaction with the weak current of the Standard Model. Image credit: Evan Berkowitz/Jülich Research Centre and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Award Finalists Demonstrate Improved QCD Code for Supercomputing

Modeling nuclei using fundamental quantum mechanics equations is a big job to manage, even for the world’s fastest computers.

PhD students Kevin Miao, left, Alexandre Bourassa and postdoctoral researcher Sam Bayliss work in Awschalom's lab at the University of Chicago.

Argonne Poised for Pivotal Discoveries and Impact in a Quantum World

Quantum materials display unusual properties at the atomic and subatomic scale that, if properly engineered, could lead to new classes of devices and computing capabilities that far exceed the capabilities of existing technology. A new X-ray technique developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory may help scientists learn more about its nanoscale properties.

Meet the Director: Mark Palmer, Accelerator Test Facility

As the director of the Accelerator Test Facility, Mark Palmer helps researchers make particle accelerators smaller, more powerful, and more cost-efficient.

Land and atmosphere—as in this LBNL photo titled “Sky and Field,” by Roy Kaltschmidt—and how they consequentially interact are the chief current research interest of atmospheric scientist Ian Williams.

'A Different Kind of Earth System Model'

Ian N. Williams is a research scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and is among many national laboratory scientists developing new ways to integrate land-atmosphere interactions into climate-predictive models.

Turbulence in Space Might Solve Outstanding Astrophysical Mystery

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory used powerful computers at the Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at the DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to simulate how the turbulence could intensify magnetic fields through what is known as the dynamo effect, in which the magnetic fields become stronger as the magnetic field lines twist and turn.

Secretary Perry, Ming Lu, and Aaron Stein

Energy Secretary Rick Perry Visits Brookhaven Lab

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry visited Brookhaven National Laboratory on Oct. 26. On site, he hosted an all-hands meeting with Brookhaven staff and toured key Department of Energy Office of Science User Facilities.

New Quantum Criticality Discovered in Superconductivity

Using solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) techniques, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory discovered a new quantum criticality in a superconducting material, leading to a greater understanding of the link between magnetism and unconventional superconductivity.

Illustration of laser light setting off vibrations in material

In Materials Hit with Light, Individual Atoms and Vibrations Take Disorderly Paths

Revealed for the first time by a new X-ray laser technique, their surprisingly unruly response has profound implications for designing and controlling materials.

UT researchers Zhili Zhang (left) and Cary Smith, in association with researchers from the US Air Force, use neutrons at HFIR’s CG-1D instrument to investigate fluid flow dynamics for potentially improved fuel systems in hypersonic vehicles and other industrial spray-related applications. (Image credit: ORNL/Genevieve Martin)

Feeling the Need for Speed, Neutrons Study Fluid Flow for Hypersonic Flight

One of the grand challenges in aerospace engineering is the development of hypersonic vehicles capable of traveling at or above Mach 5—about 4,000 miles per hour or faster. However, liquid fuel combustion at those speeds and atmospheric conditions is not well understood.