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Halide perovskite material exhibits liquid-like atomic vibrations

DOE/US Department of Energy

Halide perovskites have applications in solar energy, radiation detection, and potentially in thermal harvesting. Cesium lead bromide is among the simplest of lead halide perovskite materials (LHPs). New research examined structural instabilities and large atomic fluctuations that may affect LHPs’ optical and thermal properties. It found that the atomic vibrations (phonons) of bromine octahedrons have large amplitudes but cannot oscillate for long amounts of time. Instead, the vibrations are strongly damped.

Journal: Nature Materials

Department of Energy announces $5.25 million for research on high energy density plasmas

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science (SC) and DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced $5.25 million for 11 research projects in High Energy Density Laboratory Plasmas (HEDLP)

Xiaodong Xu: Then and Now / 2012 Early Career Award Winner

DOE/US Department of Energy

University of Washington professor Xiaodong Xu studies the properties of single atomic layer semiconductors, looking for new materials and new ways to control electrical conductivity.

Changing seasons: jet shift causes seasonally dependent future changes in the Midwest hydroclimate

DOE/US Department of Energy

A new study that aims to resolve uncertainty in projections of future changes in the U.S. Midwest rainy season projects that while future seasonal mean precipitation will not change significantly, late spring precipitation will increase and late summer rainfall will decrease. The study indicates these changes will be driven by the poleward shift in the North American westerly jet due to climate change. The results may mean an increased risk of late-spring deluges and late-summer droughts for the Midwest.

Journal: Journal of Climate

Thanks to trapped electrons, a material expected to be a conducting metal remains an insulator

DOE/US Department of Energy

Recent research sheds light on the mechanism behind how quantum materials change from an electrical conductor to an electric insulator. Below a critical temperature, strontium doped lanthanum strontium nickel oxide is an insulator due the separation of introduced holes from the magnetic regions, forming “stripes.” These stripes fluctuate and melt at 240K, at which temperature the material should become a conducting metal. Instead, it remains an insulator. This is because of certain atomic vibrations that trap electrons and impede electrical conduction.

Journal: Scientific Reports

Department of Energy announces $15.3 million for atmospheric system research

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $15.3 million in funding for 24 new projects in atmospheric sciences aimed at improving the power of Earth system models to predict weather and climate. Awards focus on studies of cloud, aerosol, and precipitation processes and their interactions.

DOE announces $72 million for small business research and development grants

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $72 million in funding for small businesses to pursue scientific, clean energy, and climate research, development, and demonstration projects. The funding will support 296 projects across 44 states and addresses multiple topic areas, such as renewable energy, nuclear energy, cybersecurity, advanced materials and manufacturing, microelectronics, and artificial intelligence. Today’s announcement underscores the Biden-Harris Administration's deep commitment to advancing innovative climate solutions and strengthening America’s global scientific leadership, which are critical to achieving the President's goal of a carbon-free grid by 2035 and net-zero emissions by 2050.

Synthesizing 200 years of research on the urban impact on regional climate and extreme weather

DOE/US Department of Energy

Urbanization has noticeable effects on processes at and near the Earth’s surface, affecting weather and climate. An international team of scientists reviewed more than 500 sources from the scientific literature produced over nearly 200 years on effects of urbanization on extreme weather and regional climate to better synthesize this knowledge and direct future research.

Journal: Advances in Atmospheric Sciences

ARM Data Center: A world’s worth of atmospheric data

DOE/US Department of Energy

The ARM Data Center collects and manages global observational and experimental data amassed by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement user facility. The ARM Data Center gathers and curates some 50 terabytes of data per month from more than 460 instruments located in climate-critical locations worldwide. The data center processes and packages the information from these instruments into over 11,000 distinct data products. For the past 30 years, ARM has been making this data accessible to scientists around the world.

Active Thermochemical Tables (ATcT) advance chemistry as a PuRe data resource

DOE/US Department of Energy

To do research, chemists need data to predict and explain the direction, outcome, and amount of energy released or used during a chemical reaction. This information – called thermochemical data – is essential for a good deal of fundamental chemical science and for understanding and improving industrial processes. Argonne National Laboratory developed the Active Thermochemical Tables (ATcT) over the last two decades to meet the growing need for such data in many sectors.

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