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reserved. For additional information about Ames
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ENERGY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
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Inqui r y I s sue
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FromtheDirector
There’s a lot going on these days at the Ames Laboratory.
e’re in the final stages of construction
on our new Sensitive Instrument
Facility, a nearly $10 million building that will house an array of state-of-the
art electron microscopy equipment. It’s Ames Laboratory’s first new research
facility in more than 50 years. Through a combination of funding sources,
including the Department of Energy and our contractor, Iowa State University, the SIF
will be outfitted with three new pieces of equipment and an existing transmission electron
microscope will be moved and upgraded.
The SIF will significantly enhance our capabilities to characterize materials, particularly
at the atomic scale. By better understanding the electronic, atomic and molecular structure
of new materials, our researchers can draw correlations between those structures and the
materials’ properties, such as magnetic, electronic and photonic. You can learn more about
the SIF and take a virtual tour of the facility on page six.
And although it’s the largest, the SIF isn’t the only new thing at the Ames Laboratory.
Physicist Ruslan Prozorov’s research group has begun collecting data with a new, nitrogen-vacancy
magnetoscope that uses defects in diamond’s crystal structure—nitrogen-vacancy centers—to visualize
the magnetic fields produced by magnetic nanostructures. You can find out more about this on page 10.
When another of our physicists, Adam Kaminski, found
that access to synchrotron beam lines was becoming limited,
he set out to create an alternative method to conduct angle-
resolved photoemission spectroscopy, or ARPES. Using laser
light, Kaminski developed a way to study a material’s electronic
properties right here at the Ames Laboratory, providing both
easier access and higher resolution than previously possible.
Read about his ingenious discovery on page 12.
Ames Laboratory has been a major player in the discovery of
giant magnetocaloric materials—compounds that heat up when
subjected to a magnetic field, then cool when the field is removed.
These materials show promise as a possible replacement for traditional gas-compression technology used
in refrigeration and cooling. Our chief research officer, Duane Johnson, and scientist Vitalij Pecharsky
recently headed up an international workshop to discuss the current state of these materials and how to
advance the technology to make it commercially viable. To learn about the outcome of those workshop
discussions, turn to page 14.
Materials discovery, design and synthesis are strengths of the Ames Laboratory and a major reason
why our Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (DMSE) is our largest program. Theoretical
models help drive experiments to develop new materials, which in turn—through characterization—help
to further refine those theoretical models. Our success in doing this will be evaluated in July as DMSE
undergoes its triennial program review.
Given the advances we’re making in the areas I’ve mentioned here, as well as success on a range
of individual projects, we feel we’re in a strong position to continue to be a world leader in creating
materials and energy solutions.
W
It’s Ames Laboratory’s first new
research facility
in more than 50 years.
Inquiry
is published biannually by theAmes
Laboratory Office of Public Affairs. Iowa
State University operates Ames Laboratory
for the U.S. Department of Energy under
contract DE AC02 07CH11358.
Editor
, Inquiry
Ames Laboratory
111 TASF
Ames, Iowa 50011-3020
515-294-9557
www.ameslab.gov
Ames Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory seeking solutions to energy-related problems
through the exploration of chemical, engineering, materials and mathematical sciences, and physics. Established
in the 1940s with the successful development of the most efficient process to produce high-purity uranium metal
for atomic energy, Ames Laboratory now pursues much broader priorities than the materials research that has
given the Lab international credibility. Responding to issues of national concern, Ames Laboratory scientists are
actively involved in innovative research, science education programs, the development of applied technologies
and the quick transfer of such technologies to industry. Uniquely integrated within a university environment, the
Lab stimulates creative thought and encourages scientific discovery, providing solutions to complex problems and
educating and training tomorrow’s scientific talent.
Steve Karsjen
:
Public Affairs Director
Kerry Gibson
:
Editor
Breehan Gerleman Lucchesi
:
Contributing Editor
Laura Millsaps:
Contributing Editor
Grant Luhmann
:
Art Director
Future of Cool
14
Adam Schwartz, Director
NV
Scope
10
P
A
G
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12
Solution
Homegrown
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SIF
Nearing Operational Status