Research
Highlights...
|
At
Argonne's Advanced Photon Source, Dean Haffner (left), Bruce Stephenson
and Brian Stephenson discuss their experiments.
|
|
|
Number 62 |
August 21, 2000 |
Energy
efficiency at core of manufactured home
|
Special
manufactured home built through DOE's Building America
program.
|
Home,
sweet, energy-efficient home could be the sign hanging inside
a special manufactured home built through DOE's
Building America program and being evaluated for its energy
savings by scientists at DOE's
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. This home is the
first to receive HUD approval for the use of structural insulated
panels, or SIPs. SIPs are one-piece structural building panels
made of a solid core of expanded polystyrene foam sandwiched
between oriented strandboard panels. Champion Enterprises built
the home at its Silverton, Ore., factory in June. PNNL researchers
have begun monitoring the home's energy efficiency, affordability
and structural integrity.
[Staci Maloof,
509/372-6313,
staci.maloof@pnl.gov]
Researchers
unravel genome for 'superbug'
Secrets
of antiferromagnetism revealed
|
At
the interface of a thin layer of cobalt, a ferromagnet,
and lanthanum iron oxide, an antiferromagnet, magnetic
domains are precisely aligned.
|
Giant
magnetoresistance, vital to advanced computer read-heads
and magnetic storage devices, is achieved by "pinning" one ferromagnetic
layer to an antiferromagnet, leaving another free to respond
to external magnetic fields. The first images demonstrating
precise alignment of magnetic domains at the interface of a
ferromagnet and an antiferromagnet were made by the PEEM2
photoemission electron microscope at DOE's
Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The research also revealed local bias in each domain, without
external setting. Collaborators included Joachim Stohr, Frithjof
Nolting, Andreas Scholl, Simone Anders, and others from IBM
Corporation, Stanford University, Berkeley
Lab, and other institutions.
[Paul Preuss,
(510) 486/6249,
paul_preuss@lbl.gov]
The
ultimate pocket protector: Radiation detection made easy
If you're trying to smuggle
nuclear material, getting through Customs is even tougher
now thanks to an award-winning, pocket-sized device developed
at DOE's Idaho National Engineering
and Environmental Laboratory. The dosimeter is the only
commercially available instrument that can simultaneously
detect two types of radiation-bundles of massless energy called
gamma rays and tiny particles called neutrons. Needing only
four AA-batteries, the versatile dosimeter provides real-time
radiation exposure information in less than ten seconds and
sports three alarm options-audible alarm, visual screen display,
and a vibration mode. Data stored in a microprocessor can
be downloaded for additional analysis or logging.
[Deborah
Hill, 208/526-4723,
dahill@inel.gov]
Tolerant
storage materials
Scientists at
DOE's Los Alamos
National Laboratory have demonstrated that certain ceramic
materials with structures similar to fluorite crystals hold
up well to radiation damage because the materials' atoms shift
around to accommodate the defects the radiation causes. Long-term
storage of nuclear waste is a continual issue because internal
radiation can cause radioactive host materials to swell or
crack, making the stored waste unstable and susceptible to
leaching. Recent research into better storage materials for
high-level radioactive waste has centered on a class of materials
that are part of a larger group of ceramics called complex
oxides.
|
Probing
the past with X-rays
|
At
Argonne's Advanced Photon Source, Dean Haffner (left), Bruce
Stephenson and Brian Stephenson discuss their experiments. |
Innovative
21st century technology recently transported two brothers back
to the 16th century in a quest for truth.
At issue
was the authenticity of two astrolabes, astronomical instruments
that predate the invention of the telescope. Bothone owned
by the Adler Planetarium,
one by Harvard Universitywere
allegedly finished and dated by the same worker on the same
date, an unlikely coincidence given the time and care Renaissance
craftsmen required to handcraft an astrolabe.
Argonne's
21st century tool, the Advanced
Photon Source (APS), produces the nation's most brilliant
X-rays for materials, biological and environmental research.
One of the APS's most valuable benefits is its ability to reveal
a material's composition, crystal structure and thickness without
damaging the material itself.
"Museum
curators need to know which astrolabes are genuine, so they
aren't deceived by reproductions," says Bruce Stephenson of
Chicago's Adler Planetarium.
Stephenson's
brother Brian works in Argonne's Materials Science Division
and suggested they use the laboratory's APS to solve the mystery
scientifically.
The
APS's brilliant X-rays would reveal each astrolabe's material
composition, crystal structure and thickness profile. The process
would not damage the astrolabes, but would allow researchers
to determine which was genuine. The Stephenson brothers were
joined by Dean Haeffner of Argonne's APS. "In this experiment,
we were able to merge history with our knowledge of materials
science," Haeffner explains.
X-ray
fluorescence revealed the Adler astrolabe to be made of a copper-zinc
alloy; it is "old brass." The Harvard astrolabe, however, has
no zinc and is gold-plated copper rather than brass.
The
researchers concluded that the composition and microstructure
of the Adler astrolabe is consistent with the metallurgical
technology of 1597, the date inscribed on the astrolabe, suggesting
that it is the real McCoy-um, make that the real Bos.
Submitted
by DOE's Argonne National Laboratory
|
|