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Jiafu Mao

CCSI scientist Jiafu Mao, of the Terrestrial Systems Modeling group in the Environmental Sciences Division, parlayed his interest in physics and mathematics as a student in China into a field of study he has always found interesting

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Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam visited the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory today to congratulate the ORNL team involved in the discovery of the element tennessine, named in recognition of the vital contributions of the state of Tennessee to the int...
ORNL researchers have discovered a new type of quantum critical point, a new way in which materials change from one state of matter to another. Featured here are researchers Lekh Poudel (left), Andrew Christianson and Andrew May.
When matter changes from solids to liquids to vapors, the changes are called phase transitions. Among the most interesting types are more exotic changes—quantum phase transitions—where the strange properties of quantum mechanics can bring about extraordinary changes in curious way...
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At the confluence of energy and ecology is where Henriette “Yetta” Jager has found her calling. A senior scientist in the Environmental Sciences Division, Yetta uses models to look for win-win opportunities to produce more energy without harming fish and wildlife. Yetta’s research for the US D...

Brenda Pracheil and Bryan Chakoumakos examine the structure of an otolith under a microscope.
Scientific discovery can come from anywhere, but few researchers can say the answers to their questions would come from the pea-sized bones in the head of a six-foot-long, 200-pound prehistoric freshwater fish. In a unique pairing of biology and neutron science, researchers from...
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The recently discovered element 117 has been officially named "tennessine" in recognition of Tennessee’s contributions to its discovery, including the efforts of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and its Tennessee collaborators at Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee.
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Unexpected results from a neutron scattering experiment at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory could open a new pathway for the synthesis of novel materials and also help explain the formation of complex organic structures observed in interstellar space. I...
A team from ORNL, Indiana University and Max Planck Institute in Germany has implemented a technique with Wollaston prisms to expand the capabilities currently available at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor instrument HB-1.
For the first time since 2011, scientific users of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor were able to take advantage of a seventh cycle, allowing for 25 extra days of neutron production and available time for new experiments on HFIR’s 12 beam lines in fiscal ye...
The theories that led to physicists Thouless, Haldane, and Kosterlitz being awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, are guiding today’s quantum physicists at ORNL in their search for materials of the future. (Image credit: ORNL/Jill Hemman)

The theories recognized with this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics underpin research ongoing at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where scientists are using neutrons as a probe to seek new materials with extraordinary properties for applications such as next-generation electronics, superconductors, and quantum computing.

The SNS LINAC is the most powerful proton-pulsed accelerator in the world.
The first of its kind superconducting linear particle accelerator (LINAC) built for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is now celebrating 10 years of successful operations. The world-leading machine, which took 7 years...