Using High-Pressure “Alchemy” to Create Nonexpanding Metals

By squeezing a metal alloy at pressures hundreds of thousands of times greater than normal atmospheric pressure, researchers using x-rays at two U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories have created a material that does not expand when heated and acts like a metal with an entirely different chemical composition. The discovery offers insights about the exotic behavior of materials under high pressures, which represent some 90% of the matter in our solar system.

Looking for Ways to Improve Vaccines Against the Deadly Rotavirus

The first detailed molecular snapshots of a deadly gastrointestinal virus caught in the grasp of an immune system molecule with the capacity to inactivate it could help scientists design a more effective vaccine against rotavirus, which kills more than 500,000 children worldwide each year. The discovery was made by researchers using the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

A “Colossal” Magnetic Effect under Pressure

“Giant” and “colossal” aren’t the words that come to mind when thinking about MP3 players or laptops. But we can store and access ever-increasing amounts of data on ever-smaller devices because of giant magnetoresistance. Now researchers using the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory are delving into the forces colossal magnetoresistance, which is up to a thousand times more powerful than GMR and could trigger another revolution in computing technology.

Using High Pressure to Reveal Quantum Criticality in an Elemental Antiferromagnet

New research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source is a milestone in the study of emergent magnetism and quantum criticality. It opens new possibilities for high-pressure studies of fundamental magnetism and technologically important correlated electron materials.

Nano Changes Have Macro Importance for a Key Electronics Material

Combining the results from several powerful techniques for studying materials structure at the nanoscale, including work at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, researchers believe they have settled a long-standing debate over the source of the unique electronic properties of a material with potentially great importance for wireless communications.