Cryo-EM snapshots of the solid-electrolyte interphase, or SEI, reveal its natural swollen state and offer a new approach to lithium-metal battery design.

Islands of inactive lithium creep like worms to reconnect with their electrodes, restoring a battery’s capacity and lifespan.

Topological insulators conduct electricity on their surfaces but not through their interiors. SLAC scientists discovered that high harmonic generation produces a unique signature from the topological surface.

Spawned by the spins of electrons in magnetic materials, these tiny whirlpools behave like independent particles and could be the future of computing. Experiments with SLAC’s X-ray laser are revealing their secrets.

Much like crystallizing rock candy from sugar syrup, the new method grows 2D perovskites precisely layered with other 2D materials to produce crystals with a wide range of electronic properties.

The chemically controlled chains reveal an ultrastrong attraction between electrons that may help cuprate superconductors carry electrical current with no loss at relatively high temperatures.

Anchoring individual iridium atoms on the surface of a catalytic particle boosted its performance in carrying out a reaction that’s been a bottleneck for sustainable energy production.

Nickelate materials give scientists an exciting new window into how unconventional superconductors carry electric current with no loss at relatively high temperatures.

Measuring the process in unprecedented detail gives them clues to how to minimize the problem and protect battery performance.

With a new suite of tools, scientists discovered exactly how tiny plate-like catalyst particles carry out a key step in that conversion – the evolution of oxygen in an electrocatalytic cell – in unprecedented detail.

It’s an example of how surprising properties can spontaneously emerge in complex materials – a phenomenon scientists hope to harness for novel technologies.

The results have important implications for today’s TV and display screens and for future technologies where light takes the place of electrons and fluids.