Materials Science

Hewlett Packard’s Suhas Kumar Wins 2017 Klein Award

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.

Newly Upgraded Laser Allows Scientists to Peer Further Into the Extreme Universe at SLAC’s LCLS

Tripling the energy and refining the shape of optical laser pulses at LCLS’s Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument allows researchers to recreate higher-pressure conditions and explore unsolved questions relevant to fusion energy, plasma physics and materials science.

Scientists Watch ‘Artificial Atoms’ Assemble into Perfect Lattices with Many Uses

A serendipitous discovery lets researchers spy on this self-assembly process for the first time with SLAC’s X-ray synchrotron. What they learn will help them fine-tune precision materials for electronics, catalysis and more.

Atomic Movies May Help Explain Why Perovskite Solar Cells Are More Efficient

SLAC’s ultrafast “electron camera” reveals unusual atomic motions that could be crucial for the efficiency of next-generation perovskite solar cells.

Scientists See Molecules ‘Breathe’ in Remarkable Detail

The research team was able to watch energy from light flow through atomic ripples in a molecule. Such insights may provide new ways to develop a class of materials that improve efficiency and reduce the size of applications like solar cells and memory storage devices.

Scientists Get First Direct Look at How Electrons ‘Dance’ with Vibrating Atoms

Extraordinarily precise measurements -- within millionths of a billionth of a second and a billionth of a hair's breadth -- show this ‘electron-phonon coupling’ can be far stronger than predicted, and could potentially play a role in unconventional superconductivity.