Scientists discover unusual ultrafast motion in layered magnetic materials

A team of researchers report a mechanical response across a layered magnetic material tied to changing its electron spin. This response could have important applications in nanodevices requiring ultra-precise and fast motion control.

How Argonne is pushing the boundaries of quantum technology research

With its Department of Energy National Quantum Information Science Research Center (Q-NEXT) and its quantum research team, Argonne is a hub for research that could change the way we process and transmit information.

What can we do about all the plastic waste?

The Institute for the Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP) is helping to address the plastic waste accumulation problem by developing the science needed to turn used plastic into valuable materials.

An innovative twist on quantum bits: Tubular nanomaterial of carbon makes ideal home for spinning quantum bits

Scientists develop method for chemically modifying nanoscale tubes of carbon atoms, so they can host spinning electrons to serve as stable quantum bits in quantum technologies.

On the Road to Better Solid-State Batteries

A team from Berkeley Lab and Florida State University has designed a new blueprint for solid-state batteries that are less dependent on specific chemical elements. Their work could advance efficient, affordable solid-state batteries for electric cars.

How a Record-Breaking Copper Catalyst Converts CO2 Into Liquid Fuels

Since the 1970s, scientists have known that copper has a special ability to transform carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals and fuels. But for many years, scientists have struggled to understand how this common metal works as an electrocatalyst, a mechanism that uses energy from electrons to chemically transform molecules into different products.

Entrepreneurship program at Argonne National Laboratory opens applications for startups

Chain Reaction Innovations, the entrepreneurship program at Argonne National Laboratory, is accepting applications for its next fellowship cohort.

Pushing the Boundaries of Moore’s Law: How Can Extreme UV Light Produce Tiny Microchips?

Some analysts say that the end of Moore’s Law is near, but Patrick Naulleau, the director of Berkeley Lab’s Center for X-Ray Optics (CXRO), says that it could be decades before the modern chip runs out of room for improvement, thanks to advances in materials and instrumentation enabled by the CXRO.

Just by changing its shape, Argonne scientists show they can alter material properties

Argonne scientists have observed that when the shape of a thin film of metal oxide known as titania is confined at the mesoscale, its conductivity increases. This finding demonstrates that nanoscale confinement is a way to control quantum effects.

Toward Scaling Up Nanocages to Trap Noble Gases

Commercially available materials may be a potentially scalable platform for trapping gases for nuclear energy and other applications.

Let’s get small: New Argonne method greatly improves X-ray nanotomography resolution

Using X-rays to study batteries and electronics at nanometer scales requires extremely high resolution. Argonne scientists led an effort to build a new instrument and devise a new algorithm to greatly improve the resolution for nanotomography.

Main Attraction: Scientists Create World’s Thinnest Magnet

Scientists at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have created an ultrathin magnet that operates at room temperature. The ultrathin magnet could lead to new applications in computing and electronics – such as spintronic memory devices – and new tools for the study of quantum physics.

This crystal impurity is sheer perfection

Scientists at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have developed a nanoparticle composite that grows into 3D crystals. The new 3D-grown material could speed up production and eliminate errors in the mass manufacturing of nanoscale photonics for smart buildings or actuators for robotics.

Argonne announces 2022 Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellows, honoring the legacy of the physics Nobel Laureate

Argonne’s Maria Goeppert Mayer is one of only four women to win the Nobel Prize in physics. Today, on her 115th birthday, Argonne announces the award of its 2022 Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellowship to four outstanding early-career doctoral scientists.

Science Snapshots From Berkeley Lab

Science Snapshots From Berkeley Lab – Water purification, infant-warming device, cuff-based heart disease monitor, ancient magnetic fields

Exemplary Student Research Program inspires our next generation of researchers

Every year, the Exemplary Student Research Program welcomes students from Chicagoland high schools to complete research projects at Argonne’s scientific facilities. The program inspires and trains the next generation of researchers.

Nanodevices for the brain could thwart formation of Alzheimer’s plaques

Researchers designed a nanodevice with the potential to prevent peptides from forming dangerous plaques in the brain in order to halt development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Science Snapshots from Berkeley Lab: 3D nanoparticles and magnetic spin

Researchers at Berkeley Lab have captured 3D images of nanoparticles in liquid with atomic precision, and developed an ultrathin electrical switch that could further miniaturize computing devices and personal electronics without loss of performance.

Scientists discover ​“ripple” in flexible material that could improve electronic properties

Argonne scientists have discovered an intriguing new behavior in a two-dimensional material at the atomic level as it is stretched and strained, like it would be in an actual flexible device.

Seeing sound: Scientists observe how acoustic interactions change materials at the atomic level

By using sound waves, scientists have begun to explore fundamental stress behaviors in a crystalline material that could form the basis for quantum information technologies.