2015

Issue 1

Science & Technology at the Ames Laboratory
Contents

4Awards

Copyright 2015 by Ames Laboratory. All rights 

reserved. For additional information about Ames 

Laboratory or topics covered in this publication, 

please contact: 

ENERGY

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF Office of

Science Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 3

From the Director

There’s a lot going on these days at the Ames Laboratory. 

e’re in the final stages of construction on our new Sensitive Instrument 

Facility, a nearly $10 million building that will house an array of state-of-the 

art electron microscopy equipment. It’s Ames Laboratory’s first new research 

facility in more than 50 years. Through a combination of funding sources, 

including the Department of Energy and our contractor, Iowa State University, the SIF 

will be outfitted with three new pieces of equipment and an existing transmission electron 

microscope will be moved and upgraded. 

The SIF will significantly enhance our capabilities to characterize materials, particularly 

at the atomic scale. By better understanding the electronic, atomic and molecular structure 

of new materials, our researchers can draw correlations between those structures and the 

materials’ properties, such as magnetic, electronic and photonic. You can learn more about 

the SIF and take a virtual tour of the facility on page six. 

And although it’s the largest, the SIF isn’t the only new thing at the Ames Laboratory. 

Physicist Ruslan Prozorov’s research group has begun collecting data with a new, nitrogen-vacancy 

magnetoscope that uses defects in diamond’s crystal structure—nitrogen-vacancy centers—to visualize 

the magnetic fields produced by magnetic nanostructures. You can find out more about this on page 10.

When another of our physicists, Adam Kaminski, found 

that access to synchrotron beam lines was becoming limited, 

he set out to create an alternative method to conduct angleresolved photoemission spectroscopy, or ARPES. Using laser 

light, Kaminski developed a way to study a material’s electronic 

properties right here at the Ames Laboratory, providing both 

easier access and higher resolution than previously possible. 

Read about his ingenious discovery on page 12.

Ames Laboratory has been a major player in the discovery of 

giant magnetocaloric materials—compounds that heat up when 

subjected to a magnetic field, then cool when the field is removed. 

These materials show promise as a possible replacement for traditional gas-compression technology used 

in refrigeration and cooling. Our chief research officer, Duane Johnson, and scientist Vitalij Pecharsky 

recently headed up an international workshop to discuss the current state of these materials and how to 

advance the technology to make it commercially viable. To learn about the outcome of those workshop 

discussions, turn to page 14. 

Materials discovery, design and synthesis are strengths of the Ames Laboratory and a major reason 

why our Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (DMSE) is our largest program. Theoretical 

models help drive experiments to develop new materials, which in turn—through characterization—help 

to further refine those theoretical models. Our success in doing this will be evaluated in July as DMSE 

undergoes its triennial program review.

Given the advances we’re making in the areas I’ve mentioned here, as well as success on a range 

of individual projects, we feel we’re in a strong position to continue to be a world leader in creating 

materials and energy solutions. 

W

It’s Ames Laboratory’s first new

research facility

in more than 50 years.

Inquiry is published biannually by the Ames 

Laboratory Office of Public Affairs. Iowa 

State University operates Ames Laboratory 

for the U.S. Department of Energy under 

contract DE AC02 07CH11358. 

Editor, Inquiry

Ames Laboratory

111 TASF

Ames, Iowa 50011-3020

515-294-9557

www.ameslab.gov

Ames Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory seeking solutions to energy-related problems 

through the exploration of chemical, engineering, materials and mathematical sciences, and physics. Established 

in the 1940s with the successful development of the most efficient process to produce high-purity uranium metal 

for atomic energy, Ames Laboratory now pursues much broader priorities than the materials research that has 

given the Lab international credibility. Responding to issues of national concern, Ames Laboratory scientists are 

actively involved in innovative research, science education programs, the development of applied technologies 

and the quick transfer of such technologies to industry. Uniquely integrated within a university environment, the 

Lab stimulates creative thought and encourages scientific discovery, providing solutions to complex problems and 

educating and training tomorrow’s scientific talent.

Steve Karsjen: Public Affairs Director

Kerry Gibson: Editor

Breehan Gerleman Lucchesi: Contributing Editor

Laura Millsaps: Contributing Editor

Grant Luhmann: Art Director

Future of Cool

14

Adam Schwartz, Director

NV Scope10P A G E

12 Solution Homegrown

Nearing Operational Status

6SIF
Awards

4 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 5

Bakac receives 

Distinguished Service Award

Retired Ames Laboratory scientist Andreja Bakac was 

recognized for her years of service to the Department of Energy 

with The Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award. Bakac received 

the award certificate and medallion at an informal presentation at 

Ames Laboratory on March 6.

The certificate, signed by Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, 

reads: “In recognition of your outstanding research into the 

mechanistic chemistry of small molecule activation with transition 

metals and your dedication to the mission of the Department of 

Energy and the Ames Laboratory. With sincere gratitude for your 

38 years of service and stewardship to the Department of Energy, 

Dr. Andreja Bakac is awarded the Secretary’s Distinguished 

Service Award.”

This distinction is given in recognition of continuous and 

distinctive achievements, within or beyond an individual’s area of 

responsibility, which are of substantial value to the DOE.

Anderson named 2015 TMS Fellow

Iver Anderson, Ames Laboratory metallurgist, has 

been named a 2015 Fellow of The Minerals, Metals 

& Materials Society (TMS). Anderson was one of 

six Society members who have earned the highest 

award bestowed by TMS, which recognizes members 

for their outstanding contributions to the practice of 

metallurgy, materials science and technology. The 2015 

Fellows were recognized at the 144th TMS Annual 

Meeting & Exhibition held March 15–19, 2015.

Anderson was specifically recognized for his inventiveness 

that led to lead-free solder used in all electronic devices; 

for seminal contributions to: (1) gas atomization of 

metallic and polymeric materials, (2) powder metallurgy 

technology, and (3) rapid solidification processing of 

a wide variety of materials; for long-time professional 

leadership as a member of the TMS Board of Directors 

and chair of numerous TMS technical committees; and 

for contributions to education, especially for graduate 

student advising.

Stephens wins CYtation Award

Ames Laboratory Systems Support Specialist IV Doug 

Stephens received a 2015 Iowa State University CYtation 

Award which is presented to ISU Professional and Scientific 

staff in recognition of individual achievements above and 

beyond the call of duty, and/or extraordinary performance, or 

acts in such a way as to make a notable difference in 

the institution.

Stephens was cited for his leadership in helping 

upgrade Ames Laboratory’s network connections from 

one gigabit to ten gigabit throughout the four main Ames 

Laboratory buildings and to the Internet Service Providers 

(ISU and Energy Sciences Network). 

 In nominating Stephens for the award, Ames Laboratory 

Information Systems manager Diane DenAdel said, “Doug’s 

expertise was essential to develop the master plan, implement 

new switches, and upgrade or modify existing network 

switches. Other Ames Laboratory Information Technology 

personnel were involved with various parts of the project, 

and Doug coordinated the efforts to ensure the success 

of the project. Doug’s efforts made a real difference to the 

Ames Laboratory and to ISU. It would have been difficult 

to complete all of this work without Doug’s attention to detail 

and dedication to the overall project.”

Former SULI student named 

Goldwater Scholar

Iowa State University student Catherine 

Meis has been named a 2015 Goldwater 

Scholar, the nation’s premier undergraduate 

scholarship in mathematics, natural 

sciences and engineering. Meis, a former 

Ames Laboratory Science Undergraduate 

Laboratory Internship (SULI) program 

participant, is a third-year student, majoring 

in materials engineering with a minor in 

bioengineering. Meis studied under Reza 

Montazami and Nastaran Hashemi, ISU 

assistant professors of mechanical 

engineering.

Andreja Bakac

Catherine Meis

TMS President Hani Heneim, left, presents Iver Anderson with 

his TMS Fellow certificate during the society’s annual meeting.

ISU Senior Vice President and Provost Jonathan 

Wickert, left, presents Ames Lab’s Doug Stephens 

with the CYtation Award.
6 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 7

Engineering, the Senior Vice President and Provost, and 

the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance all 

contributed to the funding of the FIB and the STEM. 

 “We are reviewing capabilities of the various manufactures 

and developing required specifications in preparation for 

placing an order,” Kramer said. 

 Once the order is placed for the three new pieces of 

equipment, the work of moving the existing Tecnai TEM 

and the supporting sample preparation equipment will 

be scheduled so as to minimize the down time for current 

microscopy work. Once the new facility is operational, the 

other two existing scanning electron microscopes and an 

older TEM, now obsolete, will be removed and the lab space 

in Wilhelm Hall reclaimed for other purposes. 

 Construction of the SIF is wrapping up, however at this 

point, only four of the six instrument bays are being finished 

and will house the equipment listed earlier. The remaining 

space will be allocated based on equipment needs and 

compatibility that allows the best utilization of that space. A 

multi-stage commissioning process will take place to insure 

that the building and its electrical and mechanical systems 

perform according to specifications before the Lab takes 

ownership. 

 “Scheduling could be a bit of a dance to make sure that all 

of our ISU partners who have funded the equipment get their 

appropriate access,” Kramer said. “I anticipate that it will be 

in use 24/7. The facility is our space to manage and users will 

be brought on as Ames Lab associates with all the requisite 

training in terms of safety, policies and procedures, and how 

to operate the equipment.”

“One benefit of the new equipment is that it allows one to 

observe the operation of, and even operate, the instruments 

remotely,” he continued. “I’m considering setting up a location 

on campus where samples could be dropped off. Researchers 

would book time on the equipment, their sample would be 

loaded and then control of the equipment would be handed 

off to them remotely. They could perform their scans without 

setting foot in the SIF.”

 “Obviously, we have a lot of details to work out,” Kramer 

said, “but this facility will provide a significant boost to the 

characterization capabilities at both Ames Laboratory and 

Iowa State University.”

 

ears of planning will soon come to fruition

when the Sensitive Instrument Facility (SIF) opens 

its doors later this year. The $10 million state-of-theart building, Ames Laboratory’s first new research 

facility in more than 50 years, will house a new 

array of electron microscopes that will provide 

researchers an unprecedented close-up look at 

materials at the atomic level.

“Everything is coming together,” said Matt Kramer, 

Materials Sciences and Engineering Division Director at 

Ames Laboratory. “We’ve been able to pull together the 

necessary funding through partnerships with Iowa State 

University and the Department of Energy to equip the SIF 

with what we need to take our research capabilities to the 

next level.”

 In addition to an existing transmission electron microscope 

that will be moved to the new facility and upgraded with 

newer software and detectors, three additional pieces of 

equipment will be purchased. Using DMSE equipment 

funds and an FY14 midyear equipment addition from DOE, 

Ames Laboratory will purchase a field-emission scanning 

electron microscope (FE-SEM) for roughly $800,000. 

 The other two pieces—a focused ion beam microscope, 

known as a FIB ($1.7 million) and an aberration-corrected 

scanning transmission electron microscope or STEM ($3.5 

million)—are now funded as well. DOE allocated funds to 

help purchase the FIB. A coalition of Iowa State’s Departments 

of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical and 

Biological Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, 

and Physics, the Deans of Liberal Arts and Sciences and 

This facility will provide 

a significant boost to 

the characterization 

capabilities at both 

Ames Laboratory and

Iowa State University.

SIFNearing Operational Status

Top: The new Sensitive Instrument Facility sits near the 

existing Applied Science II building in the background. 

Right: Interior view of one of the office spaces.

BY KERRY GIBSON
8 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 9

Aberration corrected STEM Tecnai TEM (existing) Focused Ion Beam (FIB) microscope Field-emission SEM 

Conference Room

Office Office

Repair 

Shop

Wet Lab Dry Lab
10 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 11

NV Centers

Usually, diamonds are most valued when they’re perfect and big. But physicists see 

special value in diamonds’ tiny flaws: a certain kind of imperfection, called a nitrogenvacancy (NV) center, serves as a very sensitive sensor of the magnetic field exactly at the 

location of the NV center. NV centers are created when a carbon atom is substituted with 

a nitrogen atom. When there is a missing atom or a “vacancy” nearby the nitrogen atom, 

this forms the stable pair called the nitrogen-vacancy center. 

What makes NV centers so useful? Physicists know a lot about how NV centers work. 

(In fact, Ames Laboratory is home to one of the world’s leading experts on NV centers, 

theoretical physicist Viatcheslav Dobrovitski.) Scientists know how much energy it takes 

to push electrons from the lowest energy, or ground state, to an excited state and, more 

importantly, how much energy will be released in form of a red photon when the electron 

relaxes back to the low-energy level. NV centers’ well-defined quantum energy levels are 

extremely sensitive to a magnetic field. This sensitivity enables the NV-magnetoscope 

to detect very small magnetic fields – such as that produced by nano- and mesoscale 

magnetic materials, for example – by reading optical fluorescence emitted by the excited 

NV centers.

Objective

s the demand grows for ever smaller,

smarter electronics, so does the demand for 

understanding materials’ behavior at eversmaller scales. Ames Laboratory physicists 

are building a unique optical magnetometer to probe 

magnetism at the nano- and mesoscale.

The device, called a NV-magnetoscope, makes 

use of the unique quantum mechanical properties of 

nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. The lowtemperature NV-magnetoscope setup incorporates 

a confocal microscope (CFM) and an atomic-force 

scanning microscope (AFM). 

The NV-magnetoscope will be able to sense the 

extremely weak magnetic fields of just a handful 

of electrons with the spatial resolution of about 10 

nanometers.

“We want to determine magnetic textures more 

precisely than ever before, at smaller scales than ever 

before,” said Ames Laboratory physicist Ruslan Prozorov. 

“Our hope is to understand nano- and mesoscale 

magnetism, learn how to control it and, eventually, use 

that to create a new generation of technologies.”

 

Experimental physicists Ruslan Prozorov (left) 

and Naufer Nusran (right) and theoretical physicist 

Viatcheslav Dobrovitski (center) are collaborating 

to bring the preciseness of quantum mechanics to 

measuring nanoscale magnetism in Ames Laboratory’s 

NV-magnetoscope. The development of the NVmagnetoscope is a flagship effort of Ames Laboratory’s 

“Magnetic Nanosystems: Making, Measuring, 

Modeling and Manipulation” research team, led by 

Prozorov. Theoretical work is done by Dobrovitski and 

hands-on experimental work is done by a dedicated 

postdoctoral researcher, Nusran, who has built 

the experimental setup, the first NV-centers optical 

magnetometer fitted into the low-temperature AFM/CFM 

system, first of its kind in the United States acquired from 

Germany’s Attocube. 

A

Sample

Stage

XY scan

Green Laser Light Excites the NV Center

“Electrons start at low-energy quantum states. And the green 

laser light ‘kicks’ them to a high excited state. The rules of quantum 

mechanics say that those electrons must return back to the lower 

energy level. If an electron was excited from a non-magnetic level, 

it always emits red light. However, if it was excited from one of 

the low-energy magnetic levels, it most likely relaxes back without 

any emission. 

Microwave radiation is used to scramble electrons between 

low-energy magnetic and non-magnetic states, reaching maximum 

population of the magnetic states when the interlevel energy 

difference matches microwave energy. Therefore, by scanning 

microwave frequency, red fluorescence will cause double-dip 

spectra, corresponding to two magnetic energy levels, split by the 

magnetic field (called Zeeman splitting). The distance between the 

dips is proportional to the magnetic field at the location of an NV 

center,” said Prozorov.

“NV-magnetoscope measures the intensity 

of red light fluorescence as a function of 

microwave radiation frequency. The distance 

between the two depressions in the plot tells us 

about the strength of the magnetic field in the 

location of the NV center,” said Prozorov.

Detector Counts Red Photons

As excited electrons lose energy and return back to the lowenergy state, they emit red light. A detector counts the number of 

red photons. 

NV Centers “Feel” Sample’s Magnetic Fields

A roughly 100-nanometer-long diamond containing NV centers 

is attached to the AFM tip. The confocal microscope focuses on a 

single NV center, collecting red photons only from one tiny area while 

blocking out outside “noise.” The sample of interest is scanned below 

the NV center. The NV center “feels” the variation of magnetic fields 

produced by the sample.

“When the sample of interest is brought close enough to an NV 

center, the sample’s magnetic field is extended to the location of 

the NV center and affects the center’s quantum energy levels. By 

accurately moving the sample in two dimensions close to the NV 

center, we can reconstruct the magnetic field intensity map produced 

by the sample. This, in turn, gives access to the magnetic properties 

of the sample itself,” said Prozorov. 

Magnetism at Nanoscale

NV

Center
12 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 13

t’s often said that necessity is the mother

of invention. Such was the case for Ames Laboratory 

physicist Adam Kaminski who took the research 

challenge he was facing and turned it into a new 

solution that will help advance his research.

Two years ago the National Science Foundation closed 

the synchrotron in Stoughton, Wisc. More recently, 

Brookhaven National Lab closed its synchrotron light 

source to make way for a more advanced and powerful 

facility. Concerned that this would leave him without the 

low-energy light source he needed to study the electronic 

properties of new materials, he improvised, and the result 

was the development of a new technique that provides a 

homegrown, laboratory-based solution. 

 Kaminski uses a technique called angle-resolved 

photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) in which light energy 

(photons) is directed at a sample being studied. The photons 

for Synchrotron Light Source

cause electrons in the sample to be emitted into a vacuum. 

An electron analyzer measures the energy and momentum 

of these electrons, providing details about the electron 

properties within the material.

Besides using synchrotron beam lines, lasers could 

provide the input energy needed, but there were problems 

with the existing technology. High-energy, tunable lasers 

offered variable photon energy, but lacked the resolution 

necessary for good results. Low-energy lasers provided 

excellent resolution, but the fixed photon energy limited 

their usefulness.

So Kaminski, who admittedly knew little about lasers, 

set about finding a way to make a low-energy laser that was 

tunable. In searching the literature, he found that such a 

tunable laser had been suggested, but had never been used 

in ARPES systems. The laser used a potassium beryllium 

fluoroborate (KBBF) crystal to quadruple the frequency of 

infrared laser converting photons to the required “vacuum 

ultra-violet (UV)” range.

Obtaining such a crystal wasn’t easy. Kaminski found 

that the main source for the KBBF crystals, China, had 

embargoed their export. However, he found a research 

group at Clemson University that was able to grow him 

the crystal he needed. He was also able to obtain funding 

through the DOE Office of Science to build the new system. 

As an added bonus, the crystal growth and preparation was 

commercialized by Advanced Photonic Crystals, LLC. This 

will make them available in U.S. for applications such as UV 

photo lithography, spectral analysis and defense. 

In simple terms, Kaminski’s system uses a pair of 

lasers, with the first acting as a pump for the second one. 

The resulting beam consists of very short pulses (one 

quadrillionth of a second) and very high (400 kW) peak 

power and is directed into a vacuum chamber that contains 

lenses, mirrors and the above mentioned “magic” crystal. This 

process quadruples the energy of the photons. By tuning the 

wavelength of the second laser and rotating the crystal, one 

can then tune the energy of the produced UV photons. The 

beam is then focused at the sample in an ultra-high vacuum 

chamber and a connected electron analyzer measures the 

electrons emitted from the sample.

“Development of a laboratory-based solution was really 

important,” Kaminski said. “Our beam is smaller, photon 

flux is higher by one or two orders of magnitude, and energy 

resolution is better by a factor of five.”

For certain experiments, such as Kaminski’s, that can 

translate into significantly better data. As illustrated by the 

graphs (above), synchrotron results of magnesium diboride 

show a surface band that curves relatively smoothly. 

Results from the tunable laser ARPES shows a dramatically 

enhanced plot with a sharp peak and a slight dip before 

leveling off.

“Our system has significant advantages,” Kaminski said. 

“It offers much higher resolution. When a researcher has a 

sample they want tested, we can usually do it the next day. ”

Kaminski has performed ARPES measurements for a 

number of research groups at Ames Laboratory as well as 

researchers at Sandia National Laboratory and Princeton.

“It’s great to have the capability to perform measurements 

right here in the Ames Laboratory,” he said, “and it’s busy 24/7!”

 

BY KERRY GIBSON

I

Solution Homegrown

At left is a graph of synchrotron results of magnesium diboride that show a surface band that curves relatively smoothly. 

At right are results of the same material from the tunable laser ARPES that shows a dramatically enhanced plot with a 

sharp peak and a slight dip before leveling off.

 

Adam Kaminski stands next to the equipment

he assembled to conduct angle-resolved

photoemission spectroscopy in his lab using

laser light and a potassium beryllium 

fluoroborate crystal to excite electrons in 

the material being studied.
What is

14 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 Inquiry Issue 1 | 2015 15

he household refrigerator, sitting in the 

corner of virtually every U.S. kitchen, has been 

essentially the same for almost 100 years; airconditioning, based on the 

same technology, almost 75 years.

But with the traditional vaporcompression model reaching its limits 

for advancement in efficiency, cooling 

still eats up as much as one quarter of 

U.S. daily energy consumption. 

So, what if refrigeration systems 

could be even better? What is the 

future of cool? 

Ames Laboratory, together with 

the larger scientific community, believes it could be 

magnetic cooling, a refrigeration system which exploits 

the magnetocaloric effect—a temperature change of a 

material caused by exposing it to a changing magnetic 

field. Scientists have been attempting for years to push this 

promising energy-efficient alternative over the gap between 

fundamental research and applied technology. 

This April, Ames Laboratory Chief Research Officer 

Duane Johnson and scientist Vitalij Pecharsky helped 

organize and participated in a workshop, Advancing 

Materials for Efficient Cooling 2015, hosted by the 

Maryland Nanocenter at the University of Maryland. 

There, Pecharsky said, academia, national laboratory 

scientists, and representatives from industry met to discuss 

the current limitations of all three types of solid state 

cooling based on one of three so-called caloric effects 

—electrocaloric, elastocaloric, and magnetocalorics, 

Pecharsky’s area of research interest.

“The first big question is whether this technology is still 

worth pursuing, and the overwhelming sentiment is ‘yes,’ ” 

said Pecharsky of the workshop. “The potential gains in 

energy efficiency are too significant to ignore.” 

Almost 20 years ago, Ames Laboratory scientists Karl A. 

Gschneidner, Jr. and Pecharsky announced groundbreaking 

progress in magnetic refrigeration—they discovered a 

gadolinium alloy that allowed magnetocaloric cooling to 

occur at room temperature, and a prototype refrigeration 

system was built in partnership with Astronautics 

Corporation of America Ltd. 

Since then, research at Ames Laboratory and globally 

has progressed, and there are occasionally demonstration 

models put forth by industry, but there is still no currently 

known commercially available product that uses a magnetic 

cooling system.

“ ‘What needs to happen next?’ is one of the questions the 

workshop was held to answer,” Pecharsky said. 

“Everyone agrees we need better materials, it’s as simple 

as that,” he said. “We have only a few families of materials 

that have a reasonable magnetocaloric effect. Almost 20 

years ago we called it giant—a giant magnetocaloric effect. 

Now we know that it was just reasonable, even though at 

that time it was just about the strongest known. We could 

make a device with these reasonable materials, but in order 

for them to become commercially successful, we will need 

stronger effects that can be triggered by smaller fields.”

“We’re not quite there on the science side yet,” Duane 

Johnson concurred. “We not only need to have a material 

with these caloric cooling properties, but ones that are 

controllable within a range of temperatures for which various 

forms of cooling systems are used. That’s going to be key to 

getting manufacturers interested.” 

Even with a superior magnetic material, it’s a big leap for 

manufacturers to make. 

“For the consumer, the look and function of a magnetic 

refrigerator wouldn’t change,” said Pecharsky. “But for 

the manufacturer this is a radical departure, replacing 

a compression unit with an entirely different system. 

Current refrigeration technology is highly refined, relatively 

inexpensive to build, and cost-effective to operate. Until 

science can provide them and their consumers with a big 

advantage, it won’t be financially viable for them to retool 

production.”

That big advantage is a potential 20 to 30 percent 

reduction in the energy cost of refrigeration. 

“That’s roughly equivalent to the U.S. import of oil every 

day, energy-consumption wise,” said Johnson. “The potential 

economic and societal impact is enormous, if you think 

about all the ways in which we use cooling technology.” 

Pecharsky said the improvement in materials wouldn’t 

need to be a large one to push the technology over to a 

successful commercialization. 

“If we could incrementally improve the magnetocaloric 

effect using inexpensive and readily available elements, it 

wouldn’t even begin to push the theoretical performance 

limits of these materials and would still easily be the 

more efficient technology,” said Pecharsky. “Scientifically 

speaking, I am confident we can get there.”

 That is where Ames Laboratory’s strength, basic energy 

sciences, comes in, Johnson said.

“Materials design is a task best served by basic energy 

research, and we have the history and expertise right here. 

That’s where Ames Laboratory has a great opportunity: 

for some forward-thinking basic energy sciences research 

to come together with applied sciences and partner with 

industry to bring a significant improvement to a technology 

that nearly everyone uses.”

 

T

What is

BY LAURA MILLSAPS

thefuture of cool? future of cool?

The potential economic and societal impact 

is enormous, if you think about all the ways 

in which we use cooling technology.

Karl 

Gschneidner

Vitalij 

Pecharsky

Duane 

Johnson

Science community discusses the state of magnetic cooling technology
Ames Laboratory

111 Technical and Administrative Services Facility

Ames, Iowa 50011-3020

515-294-9557

www.ameslab.gov

2015

Issue 1

Science & Technology at the Ames Laboratory