Energy Sciences Directorate

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July 8, 2021
News Feature
A detailed study of nickelate’s magnetism finds a strong kinship with cuprate superconductors
Nickelate materials give scientists an exciting new window into how unconventional superconductors carry electric current with no loss at relatively high temperatures.
Illustration showing nickelate and cuprate superconductors as cartoon characters that are either close friends holding hands or neighbors talking over a fence.
June 14, 2021
News Feature
Scientists discover how oxygen loss saps a lithium-ion battery’s voltage
Measuring the process in unprecedented detail gives them clues to how to minimize the problem and protect battery performance.
Illustration of oxygen atoms leaving a lithium-ion battery as lithium flows in alongside a battery whose energy is being sapped by this process
June 3, 2021
News Feature
SLAC’s Panofsky fellows talk about what makes their research so exciting
From the invisible world of elementary particles to the mysteries of the cosmos, recipients of this prestigious award for early career scientists explore nature at every level.
Panofsky fellows
May 27, 2021
News Feature
Three SLAC researchers are recognized with prestigious DOE Early Career Awards
Edward Hohenstein, Emma McBride and Caterina Vernieri study what happens to molecules hit by light, recreate extreme states of matter like those inside stars and planets, and search for new physics phenomena at the most fundamental level.
Early Career Awardees 2021
May 5, 2021
News Feature
First nanoscale look at a reaction that limits the efficiency of generating clean hydrogen fuel
With a new suite of tools, scientists discovered exactly how tiny plate-like catalyst particles carry out a key step in that conversion – the evolution of oxygen in an electrocatalytic cell – in unprecedented detail.
illustration of nanoscale catalyst particles in the form of flat, hexagonal plates evolving bubbles of oxygen
April 12, 2021
News Feature
In a first, scientists watch 2D puddles of electrons spontaneously emerge in a 3D superconducting material
It’s an example of how surprising properties can spontaneously emerge in complex materials – a phenomenon scientists hope to harness for novel technologies.
Illustration of a 2D superconducting state emerging in a 3D superconductor
March 25, 2021
News Feature
Scientists uncover a process that stands in the way of making quantum dots brighter
The results have important implications for today’s TV and display screens and for future technologies where light takes the place of electrons and fluids.
Illustration of three quantum dot nanocrystals showing atomic-level changes when they are hit with laser light
March 22, 2021
News Feature
First closeups of how a lithium-metal electrode ages
Scientists have documented a process that makes these next-gen batteries lose charge – and eventually some of their capacity for storing energy – even when a device is turned off.
February 2, 2021
News Feature
A new hands-off probe uses light to explore the subtleties of electron behavior in a topological insulator
Just as pressing a guitar string produces a higher pitch, sending laser light through a material can shift it to higher energies and higher frequencies. Now scientists have discovered how to use this phenomenon to explore quantum materials in a new and much more detailed way.
Illustration of high harmonic generation in a topological insulator using circularly polarized laser light
January 21, 2021
News Feature
Squeezing a rock-star material could make it stable enough for solar cells
A promising lead halide perovskite is great at converting sunlight to electricity, but it breaks down at room temperature. Now scientists have discovered how to stabilize it with pressure from a diamond anvil cell.
Illustration of a lead halide material being squeezed in a diamond anvil cell

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