Materials Science

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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
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
December 4, 2019
News Feature
Q&A: Scientists use X-rays to crack the secrets of shale, a keystone of one of the nation’s fastest growing energy sources
A better understanding of these materials and how they store and transport oil and gas could one day enable more efficient fossil fuel production.
Aromatic carbon
December 3, 2019
News Feature
Study sheds light on the really peculiar ‘normal’ phase of high-temperature superconductors
It reveals an abrupt transition in cuprates where particles give up their individuality. The results flip a popular theory on its head.
Illustration of abrupt transition in normal state of a cuprate
December 2, 2019
Press Release
SLAC scientists invent a way to see attosecond electron motions with an X-ray laser
Called XLEAP, the new method will provide sharp views of electrons in chemical processes that take place in billionths of a billionth of a second and drive crucial aspects of life.
XLEAP
November 21, 2019
News Brief
Theorists probe the relationship between ‘strange metals’ and high-temperature superconductors
Computer simulations yield a much more accurate picture of these states of matter.
Illustration of a Monte Carlo simulation
October 21, 2019
News Feature
A day in the life of an extreme matter scientist
Chemist Ben Ofori-Okai investigates what happens to matter under extreme conditions at microscopic scales to better understand its behavior at massive scales, such as what happens in the Earth’s core.
Ben Ofori-Okai
October 7, 2019
News Feature
What is a molecular movie?
Molecular movie-making is both an art and a science; the results let us watch how nature works on the smallest scales.
see caption
September 26, 2019
News Feature
Scientists finally find superconductivity in exactly the place they've been looking for decades
The Hubbard model, used to understand electron behavior in numerous quantum materials, now shows us its stripes, and superconductivity too, in simulations for cuprate superconductors.
Diagram of electrons moving to neighboring atoms in Hubbard model
September 20, 2019
News Feature
Matteo Mitrano receives 2019 LCLS Young Investigator Award for pioneering new techniques to probe high-temperature superconductivity
Early career award recognizes Mitrano’s work in ultrafast X-ray scattering.
Matteo Mitrano

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