The Shull Wollan Center is home to scientists from a wide variety of backgrounds and research fields who utlize the neutron scattering facilites at ORNL to address compelling and forefront questions. Ongoing research programs cover fundamental physics, bio-membranes, proteins and polymers, quantum materials, and out of equilibrium and glassy behavior.
Recent Highlights
-
Curvature Memory in Electrically Stimulated Lipid Membranes
This study demonstrates that lipid membranes exhibit non-linear memory effects, where their capacitance changes in response to accumulated charge, linked to membrane shape and curvature alterations. The membranes show a hysteretic buckling response to oscillatory electric fields, suggesting bistable states that could be used for memory storage. A circuit model is introduced to capture these… Continue Reading →
-
Physical Insights Into Biological Memory Using Phospholipid Membranes
We demonstrated that electrical stimulation can modify the characteristics of the lipid membrane, indicating a novel mechanism for storing memory in the human brain. Continue Reading →
-
Cations Control Lipid Bilayer Memcapacitance Associated with Long-Term Potentiation
Long term potentiation (LTP) an important feature of learning and memory in the brain is sensitive to different salts (KCl, NaCl, LiCl, and TmCl3), with LiCl and TmCl3 having the most profound effect in depressing LTP, relative to KCl. Continue Reading →