Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is credited with discovering more elements on the periodic table than any other institution. In celebration of its 150th anniversary, we look at how far it’s come and where it’s headed.
16 Elements: Berkeley Lab’s Contributions to the Periodic Table
Feature Story By Julie Chao & Glenn Roberts Jr. • January 28, 2019
Berkeley Lab Pioneer in Synchrotron Techniques and Tools Receives DOE Secretary’s Award
Zahid Hussain, a longtime Berkeley Lab scientist, has received the DOE Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his contributions to synchrotron science.
Nanocrystals Get Better When They Double Up With MOFs
Researchers from Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry have designed a dual-purpose material out of a self-assembling MOF (metal-organic framework)-nanocrystal hybrid that could one day be used to store carbon dioxide emissions and to manufacture renewable fuels.
Revealing Hidden Spin: Unlocking New Paths Toward High-Temperature Superconductors
Berkeley Lab researchers have discovered that electron spin is key to understanding how cuprate superconductors can conduct electricity without loss at high temperature.
Topological Matters: Toward a New Kind of Transistor
An experiment conducted at Berkeley Lab has demonstrated, for the first time, electronic switching in an exotic, ultrathin material that can carry a charge with nearly zero loss at room temperature. Researchers demonstrated this switching when subjecting the material to a low-current electric field.
How Berkeley Lab is Advancing Microelectronics
In collaboration with scientists at Intel Corp., Berkeley Lab scientist Ramamoorthy Ramesh proposes a new memory in logic device for replacing or augmenting conventional transistors.
Scientists Bring Polymers Into Atomic-Scale Focus
A Berkeley Lab-led research has adapted a powerful electron-based imaging technique to obtain a first-of-its-kind image of atomic-scale structure in a synthetic polymer. The research could ultimately inform polymer fabrication methods and lead to new designs for materials and devices that incorporate polymers.
Scientists Capture Photosynthesis in Unprecedented Detail
Grab some popcorn: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientists have succeeded in capturing a more detailed picture than ever of the steps in the reaction mechanisms in photosynthesis, the process by which plants use sunlight to split water and produce oxygen while making the carbohydrates that sustain life on Earth.
Scientists Present New Clues to Cut Through the Mystery of Titan’s Atmospheric Haze
Experiments at Berkeley Lab have helped scientists to zero in on a low-temperature chemical mechanism that may help to explain the complex molecular compounds that make up the nitrogen-rich haze layer surrounding Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.
Toward a New Light: Advanced Light Source Upgrade Project Moves Forward
The Advanced Light Source (ALS), a scientific user facility at Berkeley Lab, has received federal approval to proceed with preliminary design, planning and R&D work for a major upgrade project that will boost the brightness of its X-ray beams at least a hundredfold. The upgrade will give the ALS, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary, brighter beams with a more ordered structure – like evenly spaced ripples in a pond – that will better reveal nanoscale details in complex chemical reactions and in new materials, expanding the envelope for scientific exploration.
