Materials Science

Light handling

Scientists constantly identify and qualify new materials, seeking substances with improved properties for use in everything from cars to space… Read More

March 7, 2023

Adding up alloys

The future of additive manufacturing (AM), commonly called 3D printing, hinges on learning metals’ microstructure. Demands for more fuel-efficient transportation… Read More

July 26, 2022

Taking charge

Perfection is a problem when it comes to how computers model materials for energy applications. Although a typical model assumes… Read More

May 3, 2022

Quantum quandary

Electrons – small, charged and abundant – complicate materials science simulations. Because their effects often are tiny and the cost… Read More

August 12, 2020

Power play

As solar-cell and semiconductor materials go, perovskite would seem to be an underdog when compared to such staples as silicon… Read More

August 7, 2019

Quantum predictions

Solving a complex problem quickly requires careful tradeoffs – and simulating the behavior of materials is no exception. To get… Read More

October 17, 2018

Current developments

Imagine a world in which lasers can draw entire circuit boards, where ceramic bowls normally used as pottery can produce… Read More

August 8, 2018

Rules of attraction

The atoms inside materials are not always perfectly ordered, as usually depicted in models. In magnetic, ferroelectric (or showing electric… Read More

November 8, 2017

Going meta

Metamaterials – substances engineered to have properties absent in nature – are made by assembling multiple parts made from metals… Read More

July 20, 2017

Costly crumbling

The chemical bonds that tie silicon to oxygen can be expensive to break. Miners want to sever these bonds in… Read More

September 16, 2015