Will Chueh of Stanford University is the 2023 winner of the Shirley award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement at the ALS. His selection recognizes Chueh’s deep contributions in operando soft x-ray spectromicroscopy for imaging electrochemical redox phenomena—images and movies for battery and electrocatalytic reactions. Read more »
Major ALS-U Milestone: First Accumulator Ring Magnet Rafts Installed
The first magnet rafts of the accumulator ring (AR) have been installed. The AR will work together with the new storage ring to enable on-axis, swap-out injection of electron bunch trains, which is key to achieving ALS-U’s transformational high brightness. The ALS-U project team is installing and commissioning the AR before the one-year dark time that will focus on construction of the new storage ring. More to come about this significant milestone when we recap the summer shutdown!
Chiral Twists and Turns Lead Way to New Materials
Researchers found that, in crystals with structural chirality (left- or right-handedness), tuning the electronic behavior reveals hidden chiral phases and singularities. The results provide a new way to predict, test, and manipulate novel materials that exhibit desirable properties for next-generation electronic and spintronic devices. Read more »
Nicotine Protonation in Simulated Vaping Aerosols
To better understand how e-cigarette additives alter nicotine chemistry and users’ perceptions of vaping, researchers used x-ray spectroscopy technology at the Advanced Light Source to analyze the acid-base equilibria of additive-enhanced nicotine in simulated vaping aerosols. Read more »
Imaging Topological Magnetic Monopoles in 3D
Researchers created topologically stable magnetic monopoles and imaged them in 3D with unprecedented spatial resolution using a technique developed at the ALS. The work enables the study of magnetic monopole behavior for both fundamental interest and potential use in information storage and transport applications. Read more »
Chatbot-Style AI Designs Novel Functional Protein
Researchers used an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, similar to those used in natural-language (“chatbot”) models, to design a functional protein that was then structurally validated at the ALS. The work could speed the development of novel proteins for almost anything from therapeutics to degrading plastic. Read more »
Deep-Learning AI Program Accurately Predicts Key Rotavirus Protein Fold
Rotaviruses are the major causative agents of gastroenteritis worldwide. Attempts to design vaccines are complicated by the rotaviruses’ enormous genetic and immunological diversity. At the ALS, researchers validated the novel structure of a key rotavirus protein, predicted using AlphaFold2, a deep-learning artificial-intelligence program. Read more »
Nanoscale Infrared Study of Meteorite Mineralogy
Using a nanoscale infrared probe, researchers found that the minerals in a meteorite—an artifact representing the solar system’s past—were altered by water on very fine spatial scales. The work sheds light on conditions in the early solar system and lays groundwork for analyzing asteroid samples to be returned to Earth by NASA in 2023. Read more »
Pushing the Boundaries of Moore’s Law: How Can Extreme UV Light Produce Tiny Microchips?
For the past 25 years, scientists and engineers from the Center for X-Ray Optics (CXRO) have worked to develop EUV lithography, a technique that enables microchip circuits and transistors that are tens of thousands of times thinner than a strand of human hair. Patrick Naulleau, a CXRO scientist who helped develop EUV lithography, shares his perspective in this Q&A. Read more »
Improving the Efficiency of Atmospheric Water Harvesting
Researchers traced the step-by-step path of water-molecule uptake in a porous compound, then made pinpoint modifications to shape the material’s water-sorption behavior. The results led to improvements in the compound’s efficiency at harvesting water from the air, an important step toward alleviating water shortages in the future. Read more »
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