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 SLAC develops materials to improve the performance of batteries, fuel cells and other energy technologies and set the stage for technologies of the future.

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Energy sciences

In materials hit with light, individual atoms and vibrations take disorderly paths.

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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
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The results show how a particle’s surface and interior influence each other, an important thing to know when developing more robust batteries.

Closeup of an illustration showing how battery cathode material degrades
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Theory suggests that quantum critical points may be analogous to black holes as places where all sorts of strange phenomena can exist in a...

Illustration of changes in charge stripes as a superconductor approaches a quantum critical point
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Q-NEXT will tackle next-generation quantum science challenges through a public-private partnership, ensuring U.S. leadership in an economically crucial arena.

QIS public-private partnership.
News Brief

In a new perspective, SLAC and University of Paderborn scientists argue that research at synchrotrons could help improve water-purifying materials in ways that might...

Cracked, dry earth landscape.

Researchers have invented a way to slide atomically-thin layers of 2D materials over one another to store more data, in less space and using...

Illustration of experimental technology that stores data by shifting atomically thin layers of metal
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A new lithium-based electrolyte invented by Stanford University scientists could pave the way for the next generation of battery-powered electric vehicles.

Photo of vials containing new electrolyte for lithium metal batteries
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It could offer insights into the evolution of planetary systems and guide scientists hoping to harness nuclear fusion as a new source of energy.

Scattered photons
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Learning how liquid silicates behave at these extreme temperatures and pressures has been a longstanding challenge in the geosciences.

atomic arrangements of liquid silicates at the extreme conditions found in the core-mantle boundary.
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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
News Brief

New machine learning methods bring insights into how lithium ion batteries degrade, and show it’s more complicated than many thought.

Particles in a nickel-manganese-cobalt cathode are highlighted using a new computer vision algorithm.
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The SLAC/Stanford scientists are among 120 new members of an organization that advises the nation on science and technology issues.

NAS 2020