News By Location

On a clear April day in 2006, a team of engineers and scientists erupted with excitement from the control room of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), a newly built user facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A pulse of protons — racing at nearly the speed of light — shot from the accelerator and struck liquid mercury at the facility’s first target station, freeing tens of millions of neutrons. That moment launched a new era of discovery science that continues to shape technologies we use every day, from spacecraft to smartphones. As the challenges we currently face require a historic national effort, comparable in urgency and ambition to the Manhattan Project, ORNL once again stands at the ready to answer the nation’s need for AI‑accelerated innovation and discovery.   

The Versatile Neutron Imaging Instrument (VENUS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source has officially opened to users, demonstrating major advances in fast, high‑precision 3D neutron imaging. Early experiments led by Stuart Miller and Dayakar Penumadu validated a new dual‑camera system and transparent scintillator technology that boosts detection efficiency by 10–100× and sharply improves spatial resolution. Their results mark a milestone for neutron imaging, enabling clearer insights into materials—from composites to complex engineered systems—and underscoring VENUS’s role as a next‑generation tool for researchers across science and engineering.

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are developing AI-enabled pixel detectors that can analyze particle-collision data directly at the source. The approach could help particle-physics experiments identify and capture the most important signals from the enormous amounts of data modern accelerators produce, helping scientists make faster, more informed discoveries from some of the world’s most complex experiments.

ORNL researcher David Cullen has been named a Fellow of the Microscopy Society of America for significant contributions to microscopy. His work advances electron microscopy techniques that reveal materials and catalysts at the nanoscale, helping speed progress in energy-related and other technology research.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have uncovered a path to design superionic polymer electrolytes for solid-state batteries and other energy applications that could help ensure a future of abundant and reliable energy for the United States. The scientists demonstrated that by carefully controlling the chemical composition of a lithium salt-based polymer, they could create a material that enables superfast transport of ions in batteries and many other energy storage and conversion technologies.