Putting together a jigsaw puzzle is a great activity for a rainy Sunday afternoon. But the somewhat more difficult process of quickly assembling 3-D scientific jigsaw puzzles — atomic structures of different materials — has recently gotten a lot easier, thanks to new research that pairs high-powered X-ray beams with advanced computing methodologies.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new technique that accelerates the solving of material structures from patterns uncovered in X-ray experiments. The technique allows researchers to study certain properties, such as corrosion or battery charging and discharging, in real-time.