Molecular Alignment in Printed Electronics A new scattering method uses polarized x-rays to reveal the orientations of polymer chains in organic films. The orientations are relevant to a better understanding of charge-carrier mobility in organic transistors and charge separation in organic photovoltaics, leading to improved performance in “printable electronics.” Read more… Contact: Brian Collins Central ActivatorRead More Read more »

A Spectacular Sight Over the ALS The space shuttle Endeavor flew past Berkeley Lab and the ALS on Friday, September 21, as it was moved from Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert  to the Los Angeles International Airport. Hundreds gathered outside the ALS to watch as a NASA 747 carried the space shuttleRead More Read more »

Not All Nanodisk Magnetic Vortices Are Created Equally Magnetic vortices – hurricanes of magnetism only a few atoms across – have been found to form asymmetrically in ferromagnetic nanodisks. This finding contradicts previous beliefs and poses challenges to using magnetic vortices in random access memory (RAM) data storage systems. Read more…Contact: Mi-Young Im A NewRead More Read more »

A Surprising Path for Proton Transfer Without Hydrogen Bonds Scientists working at the ALS have discovered a new route for proton movement from one molecule to another–a basic step in countless chemical and biological reactions–thereby opening new avenues for research in biology, environmental science, and green chemistry. Read more… Contact: Musa Ahmed New Crystal StructuresRead More Read more »

Hidden Rotational Symmetries in Magnetic Domain Patterns While ubiquitous in nature, symmetry is not always evident. The first observation of hidden rotational symmetries in a magnetic system gives scientists a toolbox for discovering hidden symmetries in diverse material systems. Read more… Contact: Keoki Seu Borrowing from Nature to Produce Highly Structured Biomimetic Materials Researchers haveRead More Read more »

Resonant Soft X-Ray Scattering of Tri-Block Copolymers Tri-block copolymers can serve as scaffolds and templates for a vast number of novel and useful nanostructures. Resonant soft x-ray scattering at the ALS, a unique, powerful tool for examining complex, multi-component systems, has revealed a new phase of ABC tri-block copolymer with complicated morphology. Read more… Contact:Read More Read more »

Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Warm Dense Matter So-called “warm dense matter” (neither solid, liquid, gas, nor plasma) tends to be drastically transient and difficult to study in the laboratory. Researchers have now demonstrated that, at the ALS, fast-changing electron temperatures of matter under extreme conditions can be determined with picosecond resolution. Read more… Contact: Byoung-Ick Cho GenomeRead More Read more »

A Better Anode Design to Improve Lithium-Ion Batteries A new kind of anode has been developed for use in lithium-ion batteries that is eight times as absorbent as current designs and has maintained its greatly increased energy capacity after many hundreds of charge-discharge cycles. Read more… Contact: Gao Liu Lensless Imaging of Magnetic Nanostructures TheRead More Read more »

A Microscopic Double-Slit Experiment In a new twist on Young’s classic double-slit experiment, researchers have shown that the double slits can be replaced by electron-emitting diatomic molecules and that traces of electron-wave interference can be directly observed in measurements of the vibrationally resolved photoionization spectra. Read more… Contact: Sophie Canton Signal Recognition Particle-Receptor Complex StructureRead More Read more »

Direct Kinetic Measurements of a Criegee Intermediate “Criegee intermediates” are elusive molecules that play a pivotal role in atmospheric chemistry and are also byproducts of key combustion reactions. At the Chemical Dynamics Beamline, the reaction rates of one form of Criegee intermediate was directly measured for the first time, with some surprising results. Read more…Read More Read more »