Using the new MAESTRO platform at the ALS, scientists found that the exotic behavior of electrons in the 2D semiconductor, WS2, may be highly tunable, with possible applications for electronics and other forms of information storage, processing, and transfer. Read more »
The Mystery of the Lightweight Electrons
Copper oxides are important for superconductivity applications but are difficult to understand due to complex charge, spin, and orbital interactions. Now, studies at the ALS have found such a system in which observations of effective electron mass are at odds with state-of-the-art electronic-structure calculations. Read more »
Electronic Phase Separation and Dramatic Inverse Band Renormalization in the Mixed-Valence Cuprate LiCu2O2
Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy was used to measure the electronic structure of LiCu2O2, a mixed-valence cuprate where planes of Cu(I) (3d10) ions are sandwiched between layers containing one-dimensional edge-sharing Cu(II) (3d9) chains. Read more »
MAESTRO Beamline Set to Open to Users
This September, Beamline 7.0.2, MAESTRO, will accept general user proposals for the first time. Its unique attributes combine strong sample preparation capabilities with cutting-edge spectromicroscopy tools, offering researchers unparalleled opportunities for studying the correlation between structure and electronic properties. Read more »
ALS Postdoc Recognized for Outstanding Thesis
Søren Ulstrup, an ALS postdoc who received his Ph.D. from Aarhus University in Denmark last year, was selected by the Aarhus University Research Foundation as one of five promising young scientists to receive its prize for outstanding doctoral thesis. Watch a video of Søren describing his thesis, “A Direct Study of the Electronic Structure of Graphene.” Read more »
Spectroscopy of Supercapacitor Electrodes In Operando
X-ray spectroscopy of graphene supercapacitor electrodes under operating conditions reveals changes in electronic structure and bonding. The research could lead to an improvement in the capacity and efficiency of electrical energy storage systems needed to meet the burgeoning demands of consumer, industrial, and green technologies. Read more »
The Electronic Structure of a Two-Dimensional Pure Copper Oxide Lattice
All superconducting cuprates share a common structure: charge reservoirs stacked between layers of CuO2. An undoped version, including only C and O, is not available in nature. By growing epitaxial films with a pulsed-laser deposition facility, researchers stabilized a 2D version of CuO, which can be thought as composed by two CuO2 planes staggered and superposed.
New Light on a Famous Insulator: Photoinduced Polaronic Conduction in Anatase
Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), researchers have shown that the number of conduction electrons in anatase, as well as their degree of correlation, can be patterned by exposure to UV light in a controllable and reversible way. Read more »