In experiments with the lab’s ultrafast "electron camera," laser light hitting a material is almost completely converted into nuclear vibrations, which are key to switching a material’s properties on and off for future electronics and other applications.

This novel method could shrink the equipment needed to make laser pulses billionths of a billionth of a second long for studying ultra-speedy electron movements in solids, chemical reactions and future electronics.

The X-ray studies performed at SLAC will help the oil industry improve guidelines for corrosion from sulfur in crude oil.

Kumar’s work, carried out in part at SSRL, explains how memristors work – a new class of electronic devices with applications in next-generation information storage and computing.