News Releases

Ames Laboratory scientist Patricia Thiel elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Patricia Thiel, an Ames Laboratory scientist and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Academy announced its 2019 class of new members today.

Ames Laboratory postdoc receives ACS Young Investigator Award

Georgiy Akopov, a postdoctoral research associate at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, has won a Young Investigator Award from the American Chemical Society Division of Inorganic Chemistry.

New microscopy method provides more details about nanocomposites

Scientists at Ames Laboratory have developed a new microscopy approach for imaging gel nanocomposites in their natural state, which will reveal more useful information about their assembly and properties.

Squeezed nanocrystals: A new model predicts their shape when blanketed under graphene

In a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and Northeastern University, scientists have developed a model for predicting the shape of metal nanocrystals or “islands” sandwiched between or below two-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene. The advance moves 2D quantum materials a step closer to applications in electronics.

Scientists capture live, atomic-level detail of nanoparticle formation

Scientists at the Sensitive Instrument Facility of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory achieved real-time atom rearrangement monitoring using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy during the synthesis of intermetallic nanoparticles (iNPs).

Getting to the root of the mystery: New research project could tell us how plants “talk” to microbes in soil

To better understand the rhizosphere -- a narrow zone around roots of intense microbial activity -- Ames Laboratory researchers are working to develop a model instrument that will enable scientists to look at the biological interactions in the rhizosphere in real time, in the field, a capability that doesn’t currently exist.

Scientists measure exact edge between superconducting and magnetic states

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory have developed a method to accurately measure the “exact edge” or onset at which a magnetic field enters a superconducting material. The knowledge of this threshold— called the lower critical field— plays a crucial role in untangling the difficulties that have prevented the broader use of superconductivity in new technologies.

Laser pulses light the way to tuning topological materials for spintronics and quantum computing

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory have discovered a means of controlling the surface conductivity of a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator, a type of material that has potential applications in spintronic devices and quantum computing.

Middle School Science Bowl Feb. 16

Middle school students from across Iowa will gather in Ames on Feb. 16 to compete in the 2019 Ames Laboratory/Iowa State University Regional Middle School Science Bowl. Thirty-two teams of students will compete to answer questions about biology, chemistry, earth and space science, energy, mathematics, and physics in the day-long, quiz-bowl format competition.

Catching atoms in action: watching next-gen materials crystallize

Experts in capturing atomic-level details of complex materials transformations, Ames Laboratory scientists melted, super-cooled and then reheated a model alloy of aluminum and samarium, and monitored the reheating process in real time with a combination of high-energy x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy.