Large Magnetization at Carbon Surfaces From organic matter to pencil lead, carbon is a versatile element. Now, another use has been found: magnets. Researchers studying the effects of protons on the electronic structure of graphite found very strong magnetization when hydrogen atoms are incorporated at the surface of graphite. Read more… Contact: Hendrik Ohldag MineralRead More Read more »

ALS Featured as One of Popular Science’s 10 Most Epic Projects The Advanced Light Source is featured in Popular Science magazine this month as part of “Big Science: The 10 Most Ambitious Experiments in the Universe Today.” The article touts the ALS’ scientific utility, citing contributions to the fields of chemistry, astrophysics, biomedicine, material science,Read More Read more »

Direct-Write of Silicon and Germanium Nanostructures A new strategy to “write” electronic silicon and germanium nanostructures could simplify nanomaterial electronic circuit fabrication by circumventing the difficult assembly step. PEEM-2 and PEEM-3 confirm the quality of the written nanostructures. Read more… Contact: Marco Rolandi Two Novel Ultra-Incompressible Materials Materials that are mechanically, thermally, and chemically stableRead More Read more »

Cool Magnetic Molecules Certain materials are known to heat up or cool down when they are exposed to a changing magnetic field. This is known as the magnetocaloric effect. All magnetic materials exhibit this effect, but in most cases, it is too small to be technologically useful. Recently, however, an international collaboration of researchers fromRead More Read more »

Heterogeneous Morphology Found in Organic Solar Cells Organic solar cell models traditionally assume a morphology with discrete interfaces between pure electron donor and acceptor materials, but recent studies found a substantial amount of molecular mixing between model materials. To uncover organic solar cells’ maximum potential, the paradigm of device operation may need to be refined.Read More Read more »

Probing Strain-Induced Changes in Electronic Structure with XMCD The difference in the lattice constant of a substrate compared to a thin film deposited on top of it or a matrix compared to a nanocolumn embedded in it induces a lattice distortion—i.e., strain—in the nanostructure as compared to the bulk. The strong coupling of electronic propertiesRead More Read more »

Giant Protease TPP II’s Structure, Mechanism Uncovered Tripeptidyl peptidase II, the largest known eukaryotic protease complex, is implicated in numerous cellular processes including the degradation of the endogenous satiety agent cholecystokinin-8, making it a target in the treatment of obesity. To gain insight into this molecular machine’s mechanisms of activation and proteolysis, researchers combined single-particleRead More Read more »

ALS Users’ Meeting 2010: Stimulating Science and Innovation For the nearly 400 attendees, the 2010 ALS Users’ Meeting was a smashing success. In his opening remarks, Users’ Executive Committee Chair David Osborn thanked co-chairs Hendrik Bluhm and Brandy Toner for what was to be an enjoyable and stimulating conference. ALS Director Roger Falcone opened theRead More Read more »

Register Now for the ALS Users’ Meeting: Agenda Online, Details Here The ALS Users’ Meeting is less than one month away, and we have an exciting program this year. In addition to a talk by ALS Director Roger Falcone, we’ll get an update on the Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences from Dr.Read More Read more »

Real-Time Chemical Imaging of Bacterial Biofilm Development Almost all bacteria can form biofilms–dynamic communities of cells enclosed in self-produced matrices of polymers. Coordinated collectively, these bacteria defend against antagonists, break down recalcitrant materials, and produce biofuels. Researchers from Berkeley Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, and UC Berkeley have developed a robust and label-free method toRead More Read more »