Researchers have observed, for the first time, an exotic 3-D racetrack for electrons in ultrathin slices of a tiny crystal they made at Berkeley Lab. Read more »
ALS Work Using X-Ray Microdiffraction
Improving Alloy Memory by Tuning Material Composition
Shape memory alloys can “remember” their original form and return to it repeatedly when heated. To gain structural insight into a new alloy capable of sustaining millions of cycles without failure, researchers performed x-ray Laue microdiffraction at ALS Beamline 12.3.2. Read more »
Conduction Along Magnetic Interfaces could Improve Memory Devices
Scientists have provided the first direct evidence of a controversial phenomenon: the boundaries between magnetic regions in an electrical insulator can become electrically conductive. This discovery can potentially lead to improvements in future memory storage devices. Read more »
Terra Sigillata: Evolution of Roman Ceramics Reflect Changes in Technology, Life
Ancient terra sigillata ceramics were the most famous and ubiquitous Roman tableware, yet when their manufacturing spread to other locations, some of the ceramics’ characteristics changed. Researchers from France and the ALS traced the changes.
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Concrete Industry Benefits from Ancient Romans and the ALS
New insights into the ancient Romans’ ingenious concrete harbor structures emerging from ALS beamline research could move the modern concrete industry toward its goal of a reduced carbon footprint.
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 »
ALS Gives Chevron Scientists New Insights into Corrosion Resistance
In the chemical environments common in energy production plants, steel pipes and equipment can accumulate layers of iron sulfide, some of which are corrosion resistant and provide protection to the steel surface. Understanding how operating conditions affect steel surface layers can improve corrosion rate estimates, decreasing building and maintenance costs, and increasing the safety and reliability of operating plants. Chevron Energy Technology Company (Chevron ETC) is currently studying the link between operating conditions and corrosion properties at ALS to determine which corrosion layers form and in what order.
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 »
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 »
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 »
