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The Glenn T. Seaborg Center

Solid State Chemistry

The unusual bonding of 5f orbitals in solid-state materials generates a wide variety of exotic electronic and magnetic behaviors that create challenges for developing a coherent understanding of bonding. Interactions and covalency of simple actinide oxides and other actinide materials with other light elements (C, N, S, etc.) are studied with state-of-the-art probes, including X-ray synchrotron radiation and luminescence techniques, to complement information derived from other physical measurements.

Resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy (RXES) from alpha-plutonium as an example of a delocalized actinide intermetallic. [C. Booth et al., J. Electron. Spect. Relat. Phenom. 194, 57 (2014); Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 109, 10205 (2012)].

Mission

The core mission of the Glenn T. Seaborg Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is basic research to understand fundamental heavy element chemical interactions in complex systems at the molecular level and across multiple length scales. We seek knowledge on the important processes and materials related to fundamental f-element science, rare-earth elements and actinides in the environment, and to nuclear chemistry and materials. Accompanying this core mission is the education and training of future leaders in the field of f-element science.

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