2017 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Atomistic Calculations Predict that Boron Incorporation Increases the Efficiency of LEDs

Using predictive atomistic calculations and high-performance supercomputers at the NERSC computing facility, researchers Logan Williams and Emmanouil Kioupakis at the University of Michigan found that incorporating the element boron into the widely used InGaN (indium-gallium nitride) material can keep electrons from becoming too crowded in LEDs, making the material more efficient at producing light.

Not So Elementary

A UC Santa Barbara physicist and colleagues review three experiments that hint at a phenomenon beyond the Standard Model of particle physics.

Scientists Discover a 2-D magnet

A team led by the University of Washington and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has for the first time discovered magnetism in the 2-D world of monolayers, or materials that are formed by a single atomic layer.

Physicists Use Numerical ‘Tweezers’ to Study Nuclear Interactions

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have developed numerical “tweezers” that can pin a nucleus in place, enabling them to study how interactions between protons and neutrons produce forces between nuclei.

Stanford Scientists Use Nanotechnology to Boost the Performance of a Key Industrial Catalyst

The discovery focuses on an industrial catalyst known as cerium oxide, or ceria, a spongy material commonly used in catalytic converters, self-cleaning ovens and various green-energy applications, such as fuel cells and solar water splitters.

Refining the Ocean’s Thermometer

Researchers from Oregon State University, the University of California, Davis, the University of Washington, and the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have found that the layers of magnesium in the shells of marine creatures known foraminifera are due to daily cycles of sunlight.

Growing Pains and How that Might Affect Seed Quality

A team of researchers at Michigan State University are showing how heat affects seed quality in plants targeted for producing biofuels.

New Understanding of Superconductor's 'Normal' State May Open the Way to Solving Longstanding Puzzle

Experiments done at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the Madhavan and Abbamonte laboratories, in collaboration with researchers at six institutions in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, and Japan, have shed new light on the electronic properties of this material at temperatures 4°K above Tc.

Caltech Chemical Engineer Explains Oxygen Mystery on Comets

A Caltech chemical engineer who normally develops new ways to fabricate microprocessors in computers has figured out how to explain a nagging mystery in space—why comets expel oxygen gas, the same gas we humans breathe.

Molecular Scale Science May Inform Water Purification Methods and Battery Improvements

A new technique developed by a team including University of Delaware Prof. Neil Sturchio and colleagues at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Illinois at Chicago has produced real-time observations documenting the chemical reactions that happen between liquids and solids.

Caltech, Berkeley Lab Teams Combines Theory, X-ray Experiments to Explain What’s at Work in Copper Catalyst

Researchers report the mechanics behind an early key step in artificially activating CO2 so that it can rearrange itself to become the liquid fuel ethanol.

Newly Identified Gene Helps Time Spring Flowering in Vital Grass Crops

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have identified a gene that keeps grasses from entering their flowering cycle until the season is right, a discovery that may help plant breeders and engineers get more from food and energy crops.