Understanding how a material’s electrons interact with vibrations of its nuclear lattice could help design and control novel materials, from solar cells to high-temperature superconductors.

The discovery could make water splitting, a key step in a number of clean energy technologies, cheaper and more efficient.

Researchers at SLAC and Stanford have created a nanostructured device, about half the size of a postage stamp, that harnesses more of the sun's spectrum of light to disinfect water much faster than with ultraviolet rays alone.

An interdisciplinary team has developed a way to track how particles charge and discharge at the nanoscale, an advance that will lead to better batteries for all sorts of mobile applications.