Scientists at Berkeley Lab and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) have gained important new insight into how the performance of a promising semiconducting thin film can be optimized at the nanoscale for renewable energy technologies such as solar fuels.
Kristin Persson Named Director of Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry
News Release Theresa Duque •
Kristin Persson, a senior faculty scientist in the Energy Storage & Distributed Resources Division within the Energy Technologies Area at Berkeley Lab and director of the Materials Project, has been named director of the Molecular Foundry. Her appointment is effective August 15, 2020.
Geothermal Brines Could Propel California’s Green Economy
News Release Julie Chao •
Deep beneath the surface of the Salton Sea, a shallow lake in California’s Imperial County, sits an immense reserve of critical metals that, if unlocked, could power the state’s green economy for years to come. These naturally occurring metals are dissolved in geothermal brine, a byproduct of geothermal energy production. Now the race is on to develop technology to efficiently extract one of the most valuable metals from the brine produced by the geothermal plants near the Salton Sea: lithium.
X-Rays Recount Origin of Oddball Meteorites
News Release Glenn Roberts Jr. •
X-ray experiments at Berkeley Lab played a key role in resolving the origin of rare, odd meteorites that have puzzled scientists since their discovery a half-century ago. Known as type IIE iron meteorites, they appear to have originated from a parent body that had a composition featuring both fully melted and unmelted parts – other meteorite types display only one composition.
Battery Breakthrough Gives Boost to Electric Flight and Long-Range Electric Cars
News Release Theresa Duque •
Researchers at Berkeley Lab, in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, have developed a new battery material that could enable long-range electric vehicles that can drive for hundreds of miles on a single charge, and eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft.
Scientists Dive Deep Into Hidden World of Quantum States
News Release Theresa Duque •
A Berkeley Lab-led research team’s surprising discovery could lead to new electronic materials that surpass the limitations imposed by Moore’s Law, which predicted in 1975 that the number of transistors packed into a silicon computer chip would double every two years.
Paul Alivisatos Wins Priestley Award
News Release Theresa Duque •
Paul Alivisatos, an internationally renowned chemist who holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley, has been awarded the 2021 Priestley Medal, the highest honor of the American Chemical Society.
Ultrafine Control: Researchers Discover Ferroelectricity at the Atomic Scale
Science Snapshots Theresa Duque •
A research team co-led by Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley grew onto silicon an ultrathin material that demonstrates ferroelectricity. The discovery could lead to ultrathin materials that control the smallest electronic devices.
Dance, Electron, Dance: Scientists Use Light to Choreograph Electronic Motion in 2D Materials
News Release Theresa Duque •
A team of scientists led by Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley has demonstrated a powerful new technique that uses light to measure how electrons move and interact within 2D materials. Their finding could lead to new approaches for quantum devices.
Berkeley Lab Researchers Receive DOE Early Career Research Awards
News Release Theresa Duque •
Three scientists at Berkeley Lab have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science to receive significant funding for research through its Early Career Research Program (ECRP). In addition, three faculty scientists with joint appointments at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley will receive ECRP funding through their UC Berkeley affiliations.