New technique uses electrons to map nanoparticle atomic structures

With dimensions measuring billionths of a meter, nanoparticles are way too small to see with the naked eye. Yet it is becoming possible for today's scientists not only to see them, but also to look inside at how the atoms are arranged in three dimensions using a technique called nanocrystallography. Trouble is, the powerful machines that make this possible, such as x-ray synchrotrons, are only available at a handful of facilities around the world. The U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory is one of them — home to the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) and future NSLS-II, where scientists are using very bright, intense x-ray beams to explore the small-scale structure of new materials for energy applications, medicine, and more.

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