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

Working with Molecular Foundry staff, an international team of users utilized the TEAM 1 microscope to plot the exact coordinates of nine layers of atoms with a precision of 19 trillionths of a meter.

Unprecedented Precise Determination of Three-Dimensional Atomic Positions

For the first time, electron tomography reveals the 3D coordinates of individual atoms and defects in a material.

When gaseous carbon dioxide (center) is dissolved in water, its water-fearing or hydrophobic nature creates a cylindrical cavity in the liquid, setting the stage for the proton transfer reactions that produce carbonic acid

The Importance of Hydration

Spectroscopy combined with theory and computation determines the interaction between carbon dioxide and water.

Fan-cooled heat sink on a microprocessor.

Hundred-Fold Improvement in Temperature Mapping Reveals the Stresses Inside Tiny Transistors

New nanoscale thermal imaging technique shows heat building up inside microprocessors, providing new information to help solve heat-related performance issues.

Atomic structure of the adsorbed carbon dioxide (grey sphere bonded to two red spheres) inserted between the manganese (green sphere) and amine (blue sphere) groups within the novel metal-organic framework, forming a linear chain of ammonium carbamate (top)

Cooperative Carbon Capture by a Novel Material that Mimics a Plant Enzyme

Innovative materials adsorb carbon dioxide via an unprecedented cooperative insertion mechanism.

Depiction of carbon nanotube (gray) inserted into a cell membrane, with a single strand of DNA (gold) passing through the nanotube.

Spontaneous Formation of Biomimetic, Nanoporous Membrane Channels

Carbon nanotubes insert into artificial and active cell membranes, reproducing major features of biological channels.

Illustration of the catalytic oxygen reduction reaction on the surface of platinum-nickel nanoframes with multilayered platinum skin structure

Multimetal Nanoframes Improve Catalyst Performance

Concentrating noble-metal catalyst atoms on the surface of porous nano-frame alloys shows over thirty-fold increase in performance.

Nanocrystals enable new electrically-controlled windows.

Smarter Smart Windows

Thin coating of nanocrystals embedded in glass can electrically control light and heat from sunlight as it passes through a window.

Scanning electron microscope image of a silicon surface hosting a nano-scale array of V-shaped gold antennas (metasurface) with different lengths, orientations, and angles.

Putting Light to Work at the Quantum Scale

Using artificial nanostructures to control the properties of light could play a prominent role in the future of computing.

X-ray computer tomography (CT) image showing solid carbonate (calcite, green) grown in a network of glass beads (blue).

Underground Storage of Carbon Dioxide—as a Solid

Nanoscale features in rocks enable more carbon dioxide to be trapped as a solid carbonate material underground.