2017 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

National Synchrotron Light Source II User Profiles: Crysten Blaby

Crysten Blaby, a member of the scientific staff in the biology department of the DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, is studying metal trafficking and compartmentalization to enhance crops for bioenergy by understanding how metal ions are used as catalytic cofactors for a multitude of processes.

Working Towards Super-Efficient, Ultra-Thin Silicon Solar Cells

In a new study that used the supercomputers at Berkeley Lab’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility, researchers evaluated a novel approach for creating more energy-efficient ultra-thin crystalline silicon solar cells.

Study IDs Link Between Sugar Signaling and Regulation of Oil Production in Plants

By exploring the details of this delicate energy balance, a group of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory has identified a previously unknown link between a protein that maintains plant sugar balance and one that turns on oil production.

The Power of One: Single Crystals Provide Clarity

To best understand a new material’s properties, researchers want to remove as many variables as possible. Ames Laboratory scientists employ a number of techniques to grow a pristine sample – a single crystal – for examination and experimentation.

Two-Dimensional MXene Materials Get Their Close-Up

ORNL scientists using state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscopy are providing the first direct evidence of the atomic-defect configurations in a titanium-carbide two-dimensional ceramics or MXene, synthesized at Drexel University – a process that is very important for future nano electronic devices and catalytic applications.

Nidia Gallego: Carbon Scientist is as Versatile as the Element She Studies

Working at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Gallego develops carbon materials for energy technologies and space exploration. She investigates the physical and chemical properties of carbon in diverse forms—including fiber, composites and foam.

The Life of an Accelerator

The world’s longest linear accelerator, the linac located at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, has undergone numerous changes in its 50 years of operation. Crews are in the process of replacing one-third of the original copper linac with cavities made of niobium.

Read more about The Life of an Accelerator

New 2-D Detector Promises Expanded Neutron Scattering Capabilities for WAND Users

The WAND instrument, beam line HB-2C, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor, recently received a new detector for improved characterizations of materials in extreme environments at the microscopic level—courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Investigating the Benefits of Cooperation

Stony Brook graduate student Tiffany Victor employs an infrared microscope at the NSLS-II at Brookhaven National Laboratory to explore how fungal associations help plants thrive.

Layered 2D Material Improves Efficiency for Solar Cells and LEDs

In the eternal search for next generation high-efficiency solar cells and LEDs, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory and their partners are creating innovative 2D layered hybrid perovskites that allow greater freedom in designing and fabricating efficient optoelectronic devices.

FRED Database Gathers Root Traits to Advance Understanding of Belowground Plant Ecology

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) scientists have released a new global, centralized database of plant root traits, or identifying characteristics, that can advance our understanding of how the hidden structure of plants belowground may interact with and relate to life aboveground.

Discovery in New Material Raises Questions About Theoretical Models of Superconductivity

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has successfully created the first pure, single-crystal sample of a new iron arsenide superconductor, CaKFe4As4, and studies of this material have called into question some long-standing theoretical models of superconductivity.