A team led by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory explored how atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) crystals can grow over 3D objects and how the curvature of those objects can stretch and strain the crystals. The findings, published in Science Advances, point to a strategy for engineering strain directly during the growth […]
Cannibalistic Materials Feed on Themselves to Grow New Nanostructures
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory induced a two-dimensional material to cannibalize itself for atomic “building blocks” from which stable structures formed. The findings, reported in Nature Communications, provide insights that may improve design of 2D materials for fast-charging energy-storage and electronic devices. “Under our experimental conditions, titanium and carbon atoms can […]
Promising Method for Improving Quantum Information Processing
A team of researchers led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has demonstrated a new method for splitting light beams into their frequency modes. The scientists can then choose the frequencies they want to work with and encode photons with quantum information. Their work could spur advancements in quantum information processing and […]
Video: First Tests of New System for Welding Highly Irradiated Metal Alloys
Scientists of the Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program (LWRS) and partners from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have conducted the first weld tests to repair highly irradiated materials at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The welding system, designed and installed in a hot cell at ORNL’s Radiochemical Engineering Development Center, safely […]
New Study Visualizes Motion of Water Molecules for Electronic Devices
A novel approach to studying the viscosity of water has revealed new insights about the behavior of water molecules and may open pathways for liquid-based electronics. A team of researchers led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory used a high-resolution inelastic X-ray scattering technique to measure the strong bond involving a hydrogen […]
Spin Current Detection In Quantum Materials Unlocks Potential For Alternative Electronics
A new method that precisely measures the mysterious behavior and magnetic properties of electrons flowing across the surface of quantum materials could open a path to next-generation electronics. Found at the heart of electronic devices, silicon-based semiconductors rely on the controlled electrical current responsible for powering electronics. These semiconductors can only access the electrons’ charge […]
Neutrons Detect Elusive Higgs Amplitude Mode in Quantum Material
A team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has used sophisticated neutron scattering techniques to detect an elusive quantum state known as the Higgs amplitude mode in a two-dimensional material. The Higgs amplitude mode is a condensed matter cousin of the Higgs boson, the storied quantum particle theorized in the 1960s […]
Researchers Flip Script for Li-Ion Electrolytes to Simulate Better Batteries
Ever since Italian physicist Alessandro Volta invented the first battery out of a stack of copper and zinc disks separated by moistened cardboard, scientists have been searching for better battery materials. Lithium-ion batteries, which are lighter, longer-lasting, and functional under a wider range of temperatures than standard batteries, power everything from cell phones to aircraft […]
Accelerating Cancer Research With Deep Learning
Despite steady progress in detection and treatment in recent decades, cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States, cutting short the lives of approximately 500,000 people each year. To better understand and combat this disease, medical researchers rely on cancer registry programs–a national network of organizations that systematically collect demographic and […]
Electron Beam Microscope Directly Writes Nanoscale Features In Liquid With Metal Ink
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are the first to harness a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) to directly write tiny patterns in metallic “ink,” forming features in liquid that are finer than half the width of a human hair. The automated process is controlled by weaving a STEM instrument’s electron […]