Capabilities

ORNL researchers perform cutting-edge research to ensure new materials can be integrated into industrial processing technology while improving that technology to ensure it incorporates the latest advancements.

Some researchers at ORNL specialize in synthesizing new materials, and are particularly adept at creating high-quality samples of individual materials are grown as single crystals and thin films. They are also able to combine multiple materials to create designer heterostructures. 

ORNL’s applied microscopy microanalysis effort provides capabilities to perform materials characterization with an emphasis on analytical microscopy of irradiated materials. 

The Fracture Mechanics Laboratory specializes in fracture toughness testing and developing small-specimen testing techniques for metallic structural materials.

ORNL researchers develop alloys and also conduct alloy processing, microstructure characterization and mechanical (and other) property testing.

The ceramics program looks at physical properties, including microstructure and grain size, using a variety of characterization techniques such as neutron examination, spectroscopy, microscopy, and chemical analysis. Another area of inquiry is fabrication and synthesis techniques that can create more capable ceramics more efficiently and cost effectively. 

Physicists specializing in the dynamics of condensed matter use theory, computing and first-principles approaches to identify promising new materials, explain the behavior of existing materials and illuminate experimental results from other researchers.

The Materials Characterization Core is a catalog of advanced ORNL instrumentation available to laboratory staff for self-use or collaboration, providing coordination, awareness and scheduling for staff.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a broad suite of quantum optical, tunneling, and spin-based quantum sensing platforms.

The Creep Laboratory offers an unparalleled testing of materials by exerting a dynamic range of stress on them, whether that be in terms of temperature, force, strain rate, pressure, length scale, or time.