15-May-2024 A surprising discovery: magnetism in a common material for microelectronics DOE/US Department of Energy Nickel monosilicide (NiSi), a material widely used to connect transistors in semiconductor circuits, was wrongly predicted by theory to be non-magnetic. Now scientists have used neutron scattering to identify an elusive form of magnetic order in NiSi. This finding could lead to improved semiconductors for computers and computer memory. Journal Advanced Materials
15-May-2024 Quantum experts review major techniques for isolating Majoranas DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory A team of researchers including a member of the Quantum Science Center at ORNL has published a review paper on the state of the field of Majorana research. The paper primarily describes four major platforms that are capable of hosting these particles, as well as the progress made over the past decade in this area. Journal Science Funder Quantum Science Center, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Office of Naval Research, National Science Foundation, U.S. Army Research Office, Microsoft, German Research Foundation, Einstein Research Unit on Quantum Devices
13-May-2024 The facility for rare isotope beams observes five never-before-seen isotopes DOE/US Department of Energy The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) has discovered five never-before-seen heavy element isotopes: thulium-182 and 183, ytterbium-186 and 187, and lutetium-190. Researchers found the new isotopes in the debris of collisions between a stable beam of platinum-198 and a carbon target. These results show the potential for FRIB as it increases its capabilities. Journal Physical Review Letters
10-May-2024 Novel hybrid scheme speeds the way to simulating nuclear reactions on quantum computers DOE/US Department of Energy The interactions of protons and neutrons can be too complex to model using conventional computers and quantum computers face reliability issues. This research combined conventional computers and quantum computers to simulate the scattering of two neutrons. This opens a path to computing nuclear reaction rates for situations that are difficult or impossible to measure in a laboratory. Journal Physical Review A
7-May-2024 Study reveals flaw in long-accepted approximation used in water simulations DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory Computational scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have published a study in the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation that questions a long-accepted factor in simulating the molecular dynamics of water: the 2 femtosecond (one quadrillionth of a second) time step. Journal Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation
6-May-2024 Expanding the hunt for hidden dark matter particles DOE/US Department of Energy Theoretical models of dark matter predict that its signals can be detected using low-background radiation detectors. By looking for specific types of dark matter and finding no signal, scientists operating the Majorana Demonstrator experiment have significantly narrowed the characteristics of potential dark matter particles. The results will help design future experiments. Journal Physical Review Letters
