Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > Brookhaven Lab Physicist Simon Billinge Receives the J.D. Hanawalt Award from the International Centre for Powder Diffraction

Abstract:
Simon Billinge, a senior scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been named a recipient of the Centre for Powder Diffraction's 2010 J. D. Hanawalt Award, along with his collaborator and former advisor, Takeshi Egami of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The award is given every three years for an important contribution to the field of x-ray powder diffraction, a scientific technique that uses x-rays to probe the structure of materials made of tiny crystals forming a powder.

Brookhaven Lab Physicist Simon Billinge Receives the J.D. Hanawalt Award from the International Centre for Powder Diffraction

Upton, NY | Posted on August 9th, 2010

Named after the late J.D. Hanawalt, a pioneering crystallographer who developed a powder diffraction database in the 1930s that is still in use today, the award consists of a citation and a gift of $1,000. Billinge received the award at the Centre for Powder Diffraction's 59th annual Denver X-ray Conference on August 4.

"I am pleased to be chosen for this award, along with Takeshi Egami," Billinge said. "Together we have made developments to a technique called the atomic pair distribution function method, allowing it to be used to study the structure of complex materials on the nanoscale, with a range of a few hundred to a few thousand atoms."

Using this method, scientists mathematically calculate the probability of two atoms being separated by a certain distance, and then compare that to distances in real materials using short-wavelength x-rays at a synchrotron. This can yield precise atomic coordinates revealing the nanoscale structure of the material. Knowing exactly where each atom in a nanomaterial is located in this way helps scientists to precisely tailor the material's properties for its intended use.

Such detailed measurements are applied to the study of the properties of diverse materials of interest, for example, in energy, catalysis, environmental remediation, and pharmaceuticals research. At Brookhaven, the focus is on the role of nanoscale fluctuations in strongly correlated electron materials, which include a wide range of materials that have unusual electronic and magnetic properties that are often useful. This class of materials includes superconductors, materials that carry current with no resistance at very low temperatures, so that no energy is lost in transmission. Scientists' key challenge is to develop superconductors at temperatures that make them practical in real world situations.

Billinge earned a B.A. in materials science from Oxford University in 1986 and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1992 to 1994, and joined Michigan State University as an assistant professor of physics in 1994, rising through the ranks to become a professor in 2003. In 2008, he accepted a joint appointment as a senior scientist at Brookhaven Lab and a professor of materials science, applied physics, and applied math at Columbia University.

A Fellow of the American Physical Society and a former Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, Billinge has won numerous awards for his work, including the Electro-science Laboratories Award and Sigma Xi Outstanding Thesis Award, both in 1992; the Thomas H. Osgood Undergraduate Teaching Award in 1998; Michigan State University College of Natural Science's Distinguished Faculty Award in 2006; and the university's Distinguished Faculty Award in 2007.

####

About Brookhaven National Laboratory
One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry, and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation of the State University of New York, for and on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities; and Battelle Memorial Institute, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Diane Greenberg
631 344-2347


Peter Genzer
631 344-3174

Copyright © Brookhaven National Laboratory

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related News Press

News and information

Researchers are cracking the code on solid-state batteries: Using a combination of advanced imagery and ultra-thin coatings, University of Missouri researchers are working to revolutionize solid-state battery performance February 28th, 2025

Unraveling the origin of extremely bright quantum emitters: Researchers from Osaka University have discovered the fundamental properties of single-photon emitters at an oxide/semiconductor interface, which could be crucial for scalable quantum technology February 28th, 2025

Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025

Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025

Announcements

Development of 'transparent stretchable substrate' without image distortion could revolutionize next-generation displays Overcoming: Poisson's ratio enables fully transparent, distortion-free, non-deformable display substrates February 28th, 2025

Unraveling the origin of extremely bright quantum emitters: Researchers from Osaka University have discovered the fundamental properties of single-photon emitters at an oxide/semiconductor interface, which could be crucial for scalable quantum technology February 28th, 2025

Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025

Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025

Tools

Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025

New 2D multifractal tools delve into Pollock's expressionism January 17th, 2025

New material to make next generation of electronics faster and more efficient With the increase of new technology and artificial intelligence, the demand for efficient and powerful semiconductors continues to grow November 8th, 2024

Turning up the signal November 8th, 2024

Grants/Sponsored Research/Awards/Scholarships/Gifts/Contests/Honors/Records

Researchers uncover strong light-matter interactions in quantum spin liquids: Groundbreaking experiment supported by Rice researcher reveals new insights into a mysterious phase of quantum matter December 13th, 2024

New discovery aims to improve the design of microelectronic devices September 13th, 2024

Physicists unlock the secret of elusive quantum negative entanglement entropy using simple classical hardware August 16th, 2024

Atomic force microscopy in 3D July 5th, 2024

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project