[Image above] Credit: NIST
Predicting magnetic behavior in copper oxide superconductors
Theoretical calculations were successfully used to predict magnetic properties of the complex electron behavior in metal oxide systems—combinations of metals such as iron, cobalt, nickel or copper with oxygen, which possess a wealth of useful properties. Enabled by high-performance computing, the magnetic couplings in model systems for copper-containing cuprate high-temperature superconductors were accurately calculated for the first time.
Lithium batteries: Forming high-quality interfaces
Researchers from the Advanced Institute for Materials Research at Tohoku University have produced lithium-based solid interfaces that have very low resistances. The researchers used magnetron sputtering in a vacuum to grow 100-nm-thick films of lithium phosphorus oxynitride directly on electrodes of lithium cobalt oxide. The interface boasted a remarkably low resistance—one that was over ten times smaller than those reported for other all-solid-state batteries.
The future of energy looks bright at Berkeley Lab
The U.S. DOE’s Berkeley Lab recently opened a new Solar Energy Research Center, which will house laboratories and offices devoted to photovoltaic and electro-chemical solar energy systems designed to improve on what plants do and make transportation fuels. The three-story, nearly 40,000 square-foot building cost $59 million with funding coming from the University of California, the California Public Utilities Commission, appropriations from the State of California, and private support.
Green-mix concrete provides environmentally friendly building material
Researchers at Universiti Teknologi MARA have introduced an innovative green concrete that is designed and manufactured using conventional materials but partially replaced with suitable waste and recycled materials to achieve acceptable performance, economics, and sustainability. Green concrete is made of new raw materials—namely fly ash, recycled concrete aggregates, and aluminum can fibers.
On-demand X-rays at synchrotron light sources
Working at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source, researchers have created an operational mode for synchrotron light sources that provides full control of the timing and repetition rate of single X-ray pulses without affecting beams for other users. The mode, which is called “pseudo-single-bunch kick-and-cancel,” or PSB-KAC for short, works by displacing and routing a single electron bunch from the multi-bunch train of an electron beam in a synchrotron storage ring.