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New, diverse users get firsthand experience at HEXT workshop
The High Energy X-ray Techniques (HEXT) workshop took place in late May, giving students the knowledge and skills to plan, conduct, and interpret synchrotron experiments, answering questions specific to their research interests in material science.
Intermediate Valence State in YbB4 Revealed by Resonant X-ray Emission Spectroscopy
CHEXS users have directly observed an electronic configuration that is quantum mechanically mixed between the Yb2+ and Yb3+ valence states in the material YbB4. These observations confirm an “intermediate valence” conjecture for this material, which was first hypothesized 50 years ago.
Dynamics of Recrystallized Grains in a Hot-Compressed Mg-Zn-Ca Alloy
Recent research performed at CHESS presents new insights into the microstructural evolution which occurs during annealing of Mg alloys using in-situ X-ray diffraction. These alloys have potential to make vehicles lighter and reduce greenhouse gases.
Characterization of 128 x 128 MM-PAD-2.1 ASIC: a Fast Framing Hard X-ray Detector with High Dynamic Range
Hybrid pixel array detectors (PADs) have proven to be powerful, versatile area detectors for X-ray science. A new prototype would enable significant advances in time-resolved studies of dynamic phenomena.
Unconventional Hysteretic Transition in a Charge Density Wave
In a new paper appearing in Physical Review Letters, research co-first-authored by postdoctoral fellows Baiqing Lyu (MIT) and Alfred Zong (Berkeley) and a team lead by Prof. Nuh Gedik (MIT), claim that EuTe4 sets a new record for hysteresis in a crystalline solid.
Nonprecious transition metal nitrides as efficient oxygen reduction electrocatalysts for alkaline fuel cells
CHEXS users have discovered a class of nonprecious metal derivatives that can catalyze fuel cell reactions about as well as platinum, at a fraction of the cost.
Analysis of a three-dimensional slip field in a hexagonal Ti alloy from in-situ high-energy X-ray diffraction microscopy data
For the first time, a microscale plastic strain field (also known as crystallographic slip) has been non-destructively reconstructed in 3D in a deforming alloy.
Phase-specific deformation in additively manufactured Ni–CrC composites
New in situ high-energy X-ray diffraction research using the FAST beamline tested cold-spraying in additive manufacturing. Researchers found a high concentration of manufacturing defects and that the load-bearing properties of the material can be improved via post-spray treatments.