2015 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Solving an Organic Semiconductor Mystery

Naomi Ginsberg, a faculty chemist with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California (UC) Berkeley, led a team that used a unique form of microscopy to study the domain interfaces within an especially high-performing solution-processed organic semiconductor called TIPS-pentacene.

Dark Horse of the Dark Matter Hunt

Scientists on ADMX – short for the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment, which is supported by the Office of Science and the National Science Foundation – are searching for hypothetical particles called axions. The axion is a dark matter candidate that is also a bit of a dark horse.

From the Bottom Up: Manipulating Nanoribbons at the Molecular Level

researchers at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a new precision approach for synthesizing graphene nanoribbons from pre-designed molecular building blocks.

Water, Water, Everywhere — Controlling the Properties of Nanomaterials

Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are learning how the properties of water molecules on the surface of metal oxides can be used to better control these minerals and use them to make products such as more efficient semiconductors for organic light emitting diodes and solar cells.

Solar Cell Polymers with Multiplied Electrical Output

A team from Brookhaven National Lab has found a new family of materials that produces "twin" electrical charges on single molecules, potentially paving the way for easy manufacture of more efficient solar devices.

World’s Most Powerful Camera Receives Funding Approval

The 3,200-megapixel centerpiece of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), which will provide unprecedented details of the universe and help address some of its biggest mysteries, has received key “Critical Decision 2” approval from the DOE.

Simulations Aimed at Safer Transport of Explosives

Researchers from the University of Utah are using supercomputing resources at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), a DOE Office of Science User Facility, to understanding better exactly how accidents involving transportation of explosives occur and can be an important step to learning how better to prevent them.

“Seeing” Hydrogen Atoms to Unveil Enzyme Catalysis

A multi-institutional research team led by Chris Dealwis from Case Western Reserve University has used the new IMAGINE instrument at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL’s) High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) to map an enzyme that could play an important role in anti-cancer drug development.

Discovering a Key to How Stars Transmit Energy

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine have been able to determine experimentally, for the first time in history, iron’s role in inhibiting energy transmission from the center of the sun to near the edge of its radiative band — the section of the solar interior between the sun’s core and outer convection zone.

2014's Top-10 Scientific Achievements at Brookhaven Lab

From new insights into the building blocks of matter to advances in understanding batteries, superconductors, and a protein that could help fight cancer, 2014 was a year of stunning successes for the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory.