Nanoscience: Where big breakthroughs start small

Look closely enough at any material, and its familiar surface resolves into a world built from atoms — structures so small that visible light cannot reveal them.

Only in recent decades have scientists developed tools capable of directly imaging and measuring matter at the atomic scale, opening a new realm of discovery.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has been central to that transformation.

“At Argonne, some of the world’s brightest innovators are turning nanoscience into the next generation of discovery, pushing ideas that once seemed impossible into the realm of the achievable.” — Gary Wiederrecht, director of the Center for Nanoscale Materials and the Nanoscience and Technology division

For decades, Argonne has helped turn the invisible world into a realm for discovery, advancing nanoscience — the study and engineering of matter at the scale of billionths of a meter — as its own scientific discipline grounded in directly observable atomic behavior. Its primary facilities for nanoscale research are the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) and the Advanced Photon Source (APS), both DOE Office of Science user facilities. They anchor a world‑class hub where researchers study how atoms behave, create new materials and uncover properties that can power next‑generation technologies. This atomic‑level control has made nanoscience one of the most dynamic fields, driving breakthroughs in electronics, quantum technology, batteries, energy storage, medical treatments and more.

Argonne powers the nanoscale revolution

Modern nanoscience rests on a simple idea: Matter behaves differently when it becomes small enough. At the nanoscale, properties can shift dramatically because quantum effects and the forces acting at a material’s surface — such as electrostatic and other molecular interactions — begin to dominate their behavior.

“What makes nanoscience so exciting is that it is ultimately about the extraordinary changes that occur when materials shrink from the bulk world into the nanoscale, where virtually everything begins to behave differently,” said Gary Wiederrecht, director of the CNM and Argonne’s Nanoscience and Technology division. ​“At the nanoscale, new properties emerge — optical, electrical, chemical — that simply don’t exist at larger scales. Scientists and engineers use those changes to create impactful technologies that were once impossible.”

Building the tools that made nanoscience possible

Argonne entered the modern era of nanoscience with deep strengths in materials research, photon science and advanced instrumentation. For decades, its researchers have worked to develop groundbreaking tools to redefine how scientists visualize, understand and engineer matter at the atomic scale.

The APS, completed in 1995, is now the world’s brightest synchrotron X‑ray source. Its comprehensive upgrade, completed in 2026, increased the brightness of its X-ray beams 500‑fold, enabling researchers to more precisely image atomic structures and track defect formation in real time as materials undergo different environmental stresses.

Launched in 2007, the CNM is Argonne’s precision engine for mastering matter at the atomic scale. Its electron microscopes, scanning probes and nanoscale fabrication tools let scientists build materials atom by atom and track their responses to heat, stress and chemistry.

Today, the CNM and the APS function as an integrated pipeline. The CNM’s cleanroom provides the controlled environment needed to fabricate and test nanoscale structures with atomic precision, ensuring that even the most delicate materials can be built without contamination. The Hard X‑ray Nanoprobe — jointly operated by the CNM and the APS — provides unmatched imaging deep inside nanomaterials.

Materials synthesized or fabricated at the CNM are analyzed at the APS, which often sends researchers back to the CNM to redesign or rebuild materials with new insights in hand. Artificial intelligence (AI) is also deeply integrated into Argonne’s nanoscience ecosystem, accelerating how new materials are discovered, made and understood.

Mastering next‑generation materials

Argonne is at the forefront of next-generation materials that enable new behaviors, phenomena and technologies.

Researchers are developing ultrathin semiconductors and other 2D materials — so named because they are just a few layers of atoms thick — for faster, more efficient electronic devices, including high‑speed transistors and ultrasensitive sensors. Some materials, such as graphene and newly realized borophene, each only one atom thick, are stronger than steel and conduct electricity with remarkable efficiency. This drives breakthroughs across electronics, energy storage, catalysis, sensing and medicine.

In a landmark achievement, Argonne researchers pioneered the first synthesis of borophene, establishing a metallic, single‑atom‑thick form of boron with properties unattainable in bulk materials. This breakthrough opens the door to an entire family of boron‑based 2D structures with the potential to reshape future energy and electronic technologies.

Scientists are engineering quantum materials so sensitive they can detect magnetic fields from single atoms. For example, nitrogen‑vacancy diamonds — whose tiny defects respond to magnetic and electric fields — could ultimately power quantum computers and sensors.

Likewise, quantum dot scintillators — a quantum‑material‑based nanotechnology — are improving medical imaging by producing sharper images at lower radiation doses, among other advances.

In energy storage, Argonne researchers are providing nanoscale understanding of advanced battery materials, including high-nickel layered oxides for cathodes and silicon anodes that could lead to improvements in energy storage capacity and safety.

At the CNM, AI and physics-based simulations are combined with X-ray and electron microscopy measurements to reveal for the first time tiny hidden flaws between layers of a material.

To understand how those flaws form, evolve and affect performance, researchers turn to the APS’s powerful suite of 72 beamlines — experimental stations where scientists use the facility’s ultrabright X‑rays to study the structure and behavior of matter.

A powerful new tool, Argonne’s world‑class In Situ Nanoprobe (ISN), moves the lab’s beamline imaging capability into the realm of ​“in situ” study, where researchers can watch how materials work, adapt and fail in real‑world conditions. This is a critical step toward breakthroughs in energy, microelectronics, quantum systems and advanced manufacturing.

“The APS is already one of the world’s great engines for understanding matter,” said Sarah Wiegold, an Argonne physicist. ​“The ISN expands that strength by adding an especially important dimension: the ability to probe nanoscale behavior under realistic operating conditions.”

The ISN connects with complementary APS techniques that examine materials across larger length scales, different time scales and alternate modes of contrast. Together, these capabilities create a far more complete understanding of complex materials — from the atomic and nanoscale origins of behavior to system-level performance, Wieghold said.

Argonne draws thousands of scientists each year

Argonne’s role as powerhouse of nanoscale discovery extends beyond its Chicagoland campus.

The CNM is open to researchers from academia, industry and institutions around the world. Each year, approximately 1,000 users from across the U.S. and abroad conduct research there, drawn by a unique combination of expertise and tools at the CNM. The APS alone draws more than 5,500 scientists each year.

“The CNM stands apart because it brings together capabilities, scale and scientific integration that few laboratories in the world can offer, creating a place where researchers can move from idea to atomic‑level discovery without leaving the building,” Wiederrecht said.

Argonne leads next-generation nanoscience

As the nanoscale revolution unfolds, Argonne will remain at the forefront of discoveries that push the boundaries of matter and open new frontiers for human innovation.

By illuminating the smallest building blocks of the physical world, the laboratory is helping society imagine — and create — what comes next.

“At Argonne, some of the world’s brightest innovators are turning nanoscience into the next generation of discovery, pushing ideas that once seemed impossible into the realm of the achievable,” Wiederrecht said.