Energy Sciences Directorate

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October 15, 2020
Press Release
A new approach boosts lithium-ion battery efficiency and puts out fires, too
Adding polymers and fireproofing to a battery’s current collectors makes it lighter, safer and about 20% more efficient.
Conceptual illustration of advantages of redesigned current collector
September 30, 2020
News Feature
Q&A: How machine learning helps scientists hunt for particles, wrangle floppy proteins and speed discovery
Daniel Ratner, head of SLAC’s machine learning initiative, explains the lab’s unique opportunities to advance scientific discovery through machine learning.
Daniel Ratner
September 10, 2020
News Feature
External
Stanford physicist’s quest for the perfect keys to unlock the mysteries of superconductivity
For decades Z-X Shen has ridden a wave of curiosity about the strange behavior of electrons that can levitate magnets.
Portrait of Stanford and SLAC Professor Z-X Shen
August 31, 2020
News Feature
SLAC researchers find evidence for quantum fluctuations near a quantum critical point in a superconductor
Theory suggests that quantum critical points may be analogous to black holes as places where all sorts of strange phenomena can exist in a quantum material. Now scientists are trying to pin down where this particular quantum critical point might be.
Illustration of changes in charge stripes as a superconductor approaches a quantum critical point
June 22, 2020
News Feature
SLAC and Stanford scientists home in on pairs of atoms that boost a catalyst’s activity
They discovered the messy environment of a chemical reaction can actually change the shape of a catalytic nanoparticle in a way that makes it more active.
Illustration of catalyst nanoparticle and car with exhaust emissions
May 15, 2020
News Feature
In a step forward for orbitronics, scientists break the link between a quantum material's spin and orbital states
The advance opens a path toward a new generation of logic and memory devices that could be 10,000 times faster than today's.
Fanciful illustration based on electron orbitals
April 2, 2020
News Feature
A new way to fine-tune exotic materials: Thin, stretch and clamp
Turning a brittle oxide into a flexible membrane and stretching it on a tiny apparatus flipped it from a conducting to an insulating state and changed its magnetic properties. The technique can be used to study and design a broad range of materials for use in things like sensors and detectors.
Close up of strain pattern produced by stretching membrane
March 18, 2020
News Feature
An advance in molecular moviemaking reveals the subtle, complex ways a simple molecule can shimmy and fly apart
Hitting molecules with two photons of light at once set off unexpected processes that were captured in detail with SLAC’s X-ray laser. Scientists say this new approach should work for bigger and more complicated molecules, too, allowing new insights into molecular behavior.
Closeup image of molecular movie frames
February 26, 2020
News Feature
External
A better way to build diamonds
With the right amount of pressure and surprisingly little heat, a substance found in fossil fuels can transform into pure diamond.
Scientist holding diamondoid molecule moldels
February 6, 2020
News Brief
Internal
How iron carbenes store energy from sunlight – and why they aren’t better at it
These inexpensive photosensitizers could make solar power and chemical manufacturing more efficient. Experiments at SLAC offer insight into how they work.
Illustration of carbene reaction pathways

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