Advanced Light Source

To mobilize the minerals needed for milk production, osteocytes—the cells responsible for maintaining bone quality—facilitate the release of calcium and other minerals from the bone matrix surrounding them. In this study, researchers investigated how osteocytes balance the rapid release of calcium with maintaining bone integrity. https://lnkd.in/gxs8UkwN

We love hosting U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science #SCGSR fellows at the ALS!

An ambient-pressure probe of a solid electrolyte revealed how surface electrochemical mechanisms lead to poor electrolyte performance and battery failure. The results can help scientists engineer better coatings and interfaces, which are essential for building safer and better-performing batteries, particularly for use in vehicles.https://https://lnkd.in/gzmsd4uW

We are happy to share our new article on the surface dynamics of Nickel nanoparticles during and after exsolution. As Moritz L. Weber shows the time scales on which nanoparticles move and merge depends on the local bonding between nanoparticle and host - Moritz found a nice way to engineer this interaction by controlling the surface chemistry... and in particular our dear friend 'surface defect chemistry' :) This was a great collaboration of our team at Peter Grünberg Institute 7 (Lisa Heymann Rainer Waser Regina Dittmann Alexander Gutsche) with Advanced Light Source (Slavomir Nemsak Michal Prochazka), Imperial College London (Stephen Skinner, Ainara Aguadero, Andrea Cavallaro Sarah Fearn Jia Guo Liam Yasin Sam Cooper ) and our dear colleagues at Forschungszentrum Jülich (Christian Lenser Olivier Guillon (IDM) Dylan Jennings Joachim Mayer (ERC) Wolfgang Rheinheimer (now Stuttgart University). I am very happy to see the results online - Congrats, Moritz L. Weber and the entire team. https://lnkd.in/eUc3Jvas

We love seeing collaborations come to life!

Using synchrotrons to study cultural heritage materials! cc: Berkeley Lab, Lightsources.org

This year's Nuclear Science Day for Scouts event patch depicts the synthesis of superheavy elements nowadays. A beam of particles (recently, Berkeley Lab Nuclear Science Division demonstrated that a titanium-50 beam could work) collides with the target nucleus. They fuse together to form a new element. Many thanks to Berkeley Lab Nuclear Science Division Berkeley Lab K-12 Programs, Advanced Light Source and Berkeley Lab's #CreativeServices support for this event. On the day of the event, November 9, scouts and their leaders will learn more about this process.

I am happy to announce the publication of my most recent article in Wiley's Advanced Functional Materials entitled "Detection and Signal Processing for Near-Field Nanoscale Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy." The theoretical (and experimental) work meticulously steps through the detection and signal processing steps that occur in the background to enable scattering-type #nanoscale-#FTIR. Each processing step is modeled as a linear operator, and all calculations are shown (especially if you dive into the SI). An algebraic expression is derived that can be easily used to approximate the sample's local extinction coefficient by using the real and imaginary parts of the nano-FTIR spectrum as inputs. The algebraic model is valid in the weak oscillator limit and matches ATR-FTIR absorption data better than the phase, imaginary part, or ratio of reflection coefficients. My collaborators (Hans Bechtel and Robert Kostecki) and I hope the article will be of benefit to new users and seasoned practitioners alike, who want to have a deeper understanding of the technique, and/or want a springboard for developing additional rigorous #nanoscale-#FTIR data interpretation approaches. The work was a collaboration between Berkeley Lab / Baylor University Baylor Chemistry & Biochemistry Department / Advanced Light Source #AFM #sSNOM #nanoFTIR #NanoOptics #MaterialsCharacterization #IR #MaterialsScience

We are flashing forward this week at the ALS with the release of our new five-year strategic plan! Our vision to continue leading in scientific discovery and cutting-edge technology sets an exciting path forward with ALS-U and beyond. Developed with valuable input from staff, partners, and users over the past year, this plan builds on the inspiring ideas from our 2023 User Meeting science visioning workshops. Thank you to everyone who contributed to bringing this document to life. Join us as we tackle global challenges in energy, environment, and health through transformative science capabilities and team science! Visit als.lbl.gov/strategic-plan to read the full plan. ???? ??: Thor Swift/Berkeley Lab Illustrations by Kayla Naas

Ever dreamt of having an older sibling in your science field that could show you the ropes? Do you have questions about how to make it in Big Science and dream of conducting an experiment on a light source? Then do not hesitate and rush to https://beamtime.eu to find out more about the Twinning program at photon and neutron sources of Europe. #NEPHEWS