ALS research has shown how the scales of a freshwater fish found in the Amazon Basin can literally re-orient themselves in real time to resist force, in essence creating an adaptable body armor. Read more »
Learning from Roman Seawater Concrete
Analyses of ancient concrete samples pinpointed why the best Roman concrete was superior to most modern concrete in durability, why its manufacture was less environmentally damaging, and how these improvements could be adopted in the modern world. Read more »
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 »
Enabling Thin Silicon Solar Cell Technology
The effort to shift U.S. energy reliance from fossil fuels to renewable sources has spurred companies to reduce the cost and increase the reliability of their solar photovoltaics (SPVs). But thinner silicon is more susceptible to stress and cracking, leading one researcher from SunPower Corporation to mount a fundamental approach to systematically find stress and enable solutions for next-generation crystalline silicon SPV systems. Read more »
Self-Assembly of “S-Bilayers”, a Step Toward Expanding the Dimensionality of S-Layer Assemblies
Protein-based assemblies with ordered nanometer-scale features in three dimensions are of interest as functional nanomaterials but are difficult to generate. Here we report that a truncated S-layer protein assembles into stable bilayers, which we characterized using cryogenic-electron microscopy, tomography, and X-ray spectroscopy. Read more »
Space-Age Ceramics Get Their Toughest Test
Advanced ceramic composites can withstand the ultrahigh operating temperatures of jet engines, but detailed analysis of these materials at such high temperatures has been a challenge. In a new highlight with video, researchers describe a testing facility that enables microtomography of ceramic composites at temperatures above 1600°C.
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Two Novel Ultra-Incompressible Materials
Materials that are mechanically, thermally, and chemically stable at extreme conditions are valuable for aerospace engineering and fission/fusion research. Researchers have synthesized and characterized two such materials: Re2N and Re3N are both extremely incompressible. Read more »
Superconducting Topological Insulators
ARPES studies show that it’s possible to introduce superconductivity into a topological insulator. The resulting novel properties, such as relativistic electrons and quantum memory, may in the future provide the basis for a whole new type of computer.
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ALS Reveals New State of Matter
ALS user groups from Princeton and Stanford have been making waves this past year with several high-profile papers and extensive news coverage of their work on a new state of matter embodied by so-called “topological insulators,” materials that conduct electricity only on their surfaces. Read more »
Mechanical Behavior of Indium Nanostructures
Indium is a key material in lead-free solder applications for microelectronics due to its excellent wetting properties, extended ductility, and high electrical conductivity. Researchers have investigated the small-scale mechanics of indium nanostructures. Read more » 