Showing 18 results for Researcher: Michael E. Manley
March 5, 2026
4 MIN READ
New research from ORNL, in collaboration with The Ohio State University and Amphenol Corporation, challenges conventional understanding about controlling heat flow in solid materials.
January 8, 2026
1 MIN READ
Scientific Achievement: Inelastic neutron scattering reveals a large electric-field-driven increase in thermal conductivity controlled by increased phonon lifetimes in a relaxor-based ferroelectric.Significance and Impact: This research paves the way for developing solid-state thermal switching devices that enhance energy efficiency over a broad range of temperatures.DOI: 10.1103/5d1z-wg4p
September 16, 2025
1 MIN READ
Scientific Achievement: Neutron and X-ray scattering show that bulk RuOâ‚‚ exhibits a highly correlated ground state without magnetic moments, despite prior claims of altermagnetism.Significance and Impact: Experimentally-constrained models that decouple electronic correlations from spins emerge that will guide the understanding of correlations in spintronics materials.DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2025.102852
July 1, 2024
5 MIN READ
A research team led by ORNL has bridged a knowledge gap in atomic-scale heat motion. This new understanding holds promise for enhancing materials to advance an emerging technology called solid-state cooling.
June 25, 2024
1 MIN READ
Scientific Achievement: Neutron scattering uncovered local magnon-phonon hybrid modes that triple cooling capacity of a magnetic shape memory alloy. Significance and Impact: This research reveals a path to develop better materials for solid-state cooling applications, which supports the societal need for cleaner, more efficient technologies.DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adn2840
September 29, 2023
1 MIN READ
Scientific Achievement: Neutron diffraction and x-ray spectroscopies showed that fine-tuning oxygen content using metal oxalate precursors and MnO2 as oxygen generator stabilizes divalent iron and manganese in a rock-salt high entropy oxide (HEO).Significance and Impact: Demonstrating the stability of divalent Fe in a rock-salt HEO provides a pathway toward novel crystalline materials with targeted cation disorder. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi8809
September 26, 2023
4 MIN READ
In 2023, the National School on X-ray and Neutron Scattering, or NXS, marked its 25th year during its annual program, held August 6–18 at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories.
February 23, 2023
1 MIN READ
Warming a crystal of the mineral fresnoite, ORNL scientists discovered that excitations called phasons carried heat three times farther and faster than phonons, the excitations that usually carry heat through a material.
December 14, 2022
1 MIN READ
Scientific Achievement: Neutron scattering and thermal transport measurements reveal that phasons in piezoelectric fresnoite carry more heat than phonons by propagating farther and faster.Significance and Impact: Understanding thermal conductivity in incommensurate crystals is important for many energy materials, so finding that phasons – which are often ignored – can dominate thermal conductivity in such systems is an important development.DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.255901
December 1, 2021
1 MIN READ
A discovery by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers may aid the design of materials that better manage heat.
October 21, 2021
1 MIN READ
Scientific Achievement: First-principles simulations and neutron scattering reveal conservation of hidden angular momenta for electrons and phonons in materials with structural twisting of coupled rotations and translations. Significance and Impact: Symmetry-derived global rules advance understanding of quasiparticle interactions and topologies toward discovery of materials with novel functionalities.DOI: 10.1016/j.mtphys.2021.100548
March 1, 2021
1 MIN READ
Scientific Achievement: Neutron scattering and atomic dynamics simulations reveal that complex crystals can conduct heat like a glass through diffusive quantum hopping. Significance and Impact: The revealed strategies will enable the down-tuning of amorphous-like heat conductivity for energy conversion and thermal barriers, unlocking untapped efficiencies.DOI: 10.1016/j.mtphys.2021.100344