Thin-Film Coating Boosts X-Ray Instrument Performance January 27, 2026 - Optimized thin films doubled the efficiency of gratings in x-ray experiments at the ALS. The atoms-thick copper and gold layers let the grooved surfaces deliver energy that had previously been lost to absorption in the diffraction gratings, which are key elements in x-ray spectroscopy. Read more »
AI Delivers Rapid, Precise Design of Tumor-Targeting Protein January 27, 2026 - A new protein designed using AI can precisely recognize a key therapeutic target for cancer. X-ray crystallography data collected at the ALS confirmed the new protein’s specificity for its target, demonstrating a configurable and scalable approach to cancer therapy. Read more »
The Goldilocks of Ethylene Purification January 27, 2026 - Researchers engineered defects in boron nitride to develop a metal-free route for purifying ethylene to remove acetylene. The ALS shed light on how the engineered defects were responsible for exceptional selectivity. Read more »
Altermagnetism All the Way Down January 27, 2026 - Altermagnets are an emerging class of magnetic materials that offer the potential for energy-efficient, high-density memory chips. Researchers at Penn State, UC Santa Barbara, and the ALS demonstrated that characteristic altermagnetic band splitting in chromium antimonide is evident in thin films relevant for real-world device application. Read more »
Dynamic Surface Restructuring in Ag–Cu Boosts CO2 Conversion December 10, 2025 - Multimodal in situ x-ray experiments at the ALS revealed how copper–silver nanoparticle catalysts evolve during CO2 photoreduction. The findings, which demonstrate dynamic catalyst restructuring at the atomic level, provide crucial insights for enhancing the selectivity and efficiency of CO2 conversion into high-value chemicals. Read more » 
Ancient Asteroid Provides Evidence of Amino Acid Precursors December 10, 2025 - Researchers identified nitrogen-rich compounds in samples from the asteroid Bennu, returned to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. The results support the idea that asteroids like Bennu may have delivered the essential chemical building blocks of life to Earth in the distant past. Read more » 
Building Materials from the Nanocrystal Up October 28, 2025 - Researchers used the Advanced Light Source to clarify how an unusual intermediate state accelerates the transformation of nanocrystals into a superlattice during a two-step process with fewer defects than a one-step process. Read more »
X-Rays Shed Light on Possible New Treatments for TB October 28, 2025 - Using ALS beamlines, a new study revealed how CMX410 inhibits Pks13, a cell wall enzyme in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis. CMX410 is effective against drug-sensitive and drug-resistant strains of the bacterium and has been proven safe in multiple animal models of infection. Read more » 
To Study Alien Atmospheres, ALS Fractures Nitrogen Gas October 27, 2025 - A research team used the ALS to recreate how the Sun breaks apart nitrogen to inform a new model that can be used to understand the fate of a variety of elemental isotopes to explain atmospheric evolution on planets across the solar system. Read more »
Nematic Magnetic Helices Fluctuate at Different Tempos September 17, 2025 - During a series of experiments at the ALS, researchers identified helical magnetic spins that fluctuate at different time scales during a phase transition as a function of temperature in a nematic iron germanium thin film. The results provide a framework for characterizing exotic phases, which may have interesting optical and transport properties for microelectronics and spintronics. Read more »