Materials Characterization Group

Providing expertise in materials systems and diagnostics to support research at LLNL.

The Materials Characterization Group—made up of researchers, offsite appointees, and mechanical technicians—serves as a reliable, LLNL-wide source for advanced materials science solutions, including state-of-the-art preparation and characterization. Our strengths include, but are not limited to:

Fundamental understanding of a diverse array of materials systems and properties (including actinides)
Expertise in a multitude of high-performance diagnostics for analysis of material structure, composition, and behavior (such as electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, focused ion beam, x-ray diffraction, x-ray fluorescence, combustion analysis)
Precision sample preparation of hazardous and non-hazardous samples (including metallographic)
Design and development of experimental capabilities to meet one-of-a-kind materials characterization challenges
Decontamination and decommissioning of hazardous or contaminated legacy equipment
Installation and maintenance of cutting-edge experimental capabilities

Combining these strengths enables our staff to lead or provide support as trusted partners for research ranging from fundamental science projects to programmatic missions.

Jon Lee

Group Leader, Materials Characterization Group

Alyssa Maich

Materials Scientist/Staff Scientist/Deputy Group Leader

Jeff Stanford

Simon Aleksander

Dione Ancheta

Lavanya Bharadwaj

Staff Scientist

Joshua Brinkmann

Matthew Cline

Michael Eggleston

Phillip Field

Materials Scientist

Sullivan Figurskey

Eleanna Garza

William Glesener

Material Research Scientist

Joshua Hammons

Steve Hart

Yaakov Idell

Derrick Kaseman

Director of the Center for National Security Applications of Magnetic ...

Lizz Lantz

Sarah Matt

Staff Scientist - Chemist

Scott Mcbeath

Amelia Petersen

Alex Preisser

Materials Scientist

Mike Sharp

Brandon Smiddy

Thia So

Mechanical Technologist

Vanna Som

Tyzh-Chiang Sun

Jessee Welch

Warren York

Staff Scientist

2024

Analysis of Self-Organized Patterned Surface Oxide Spots on Ejected Spatter Produced during Laser Powder Bed Fusion
Additive Manufacturing, 2024
C. Rock, R. Vadlakonda, S. Figurskey, C. Ledford, H. West, V. Miller, M. Pankow, K.E. Daniels, T. Horn

Processing and microstructure of a Cu-Al-Fe-Mn alloy via droplet-on-demand additive manufacturing
Materials & Design, 2024
K.D. Traxel, E.S. Elton, A.M. Petersen, C.M. Silva, A. Perron, J.R. Jeffries, A.J. Pascall

2023

Rearrangement of a Ge (II) Aryloxide to Yield a New Ge (II) Oxo-Cluster [Ge6 (µ3-O) 4 (µ2-OC6H2-2, 4, 6-Cy3) 4](NH3) 0.5: Main Group Aryloxides of Ge (II), Sn (II), and Pb (II)[M (OC6H2-2, 4, 6-Cy3) 2] 2 (Cy= Cyclohexyl)
Dalton Transactions, 2023
C.P. McLoughlin, D.C. Kaseman, J.C. Fettinger, P.P. Power

Structure of molecule-rich chalcogenide glasses along the join P4Se3-As4Se3: Results from 77Se and 31P NMR and Raman spectroscopy
Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 2023
B. Yuan, B.G. Aitken, D.C. Kaseman, P. Yu, S. Sen

2022

Constrained Model Calibration of Grain structure Dependent Spall Dynamics in Shock-Loaded Tantalum
Journal of Applied Physics, 2022
K. Beach, J.A.K. Horwitz, A. Maich, E. White, D. Ramos, R.S. Crum-Friedman, M. Akin, F.M. Najjar

Detection of natural abundance 13C J-couplings at Earth’s magnetic field for spin system differentiation of small organic molecules
Journal of Magnetic Resonance, 2022
D.C. Kaseman, R.J. Batrice, R.F. Williams

Hydrogen Uptake Kinetics of 1,4-Bis(phenylethynyl)benzene Rubberized O-Rings: Measurements, Modeling, and Comparison with Additional Forms of Organic Getters
Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2022
S.M. Matt, R.S. Maxwell, W. McLean, II, L.N. Dinh

Polyoxometalates as ligands to synthesize, isolate and characterize compounds of rare isotopes on the microgram scale
Nature Chemistry, 2022
I. Colliard, J.R.I. Lee, C.A. Colla, H.E. Mason, A.M. Sawvel, M. Zavarin, M. Nyman, G.J.-P. Deblonde

Terpene dispersion energy donor ligands in borane complexes
Chemical Communications, 2022
K.L. Mears, M.A. Kutzleb, C.R. Stennett, J.C. Fettinger, D.C. Kaseman, P. Yu, P. Vasko, P.P. Power

2021

A review of the application of 2D isotropic-anisotropic correlation NMR spectroscopy in structural studies of chalcogenide glasses
Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 2021
D.C. Kaseman, S. Sen

Enhanced Mechanical Performance Via Laser Induced Nanostructure Formation in an Additively Manufactured Lightweight Aluminum Alloy
Applied Materials Today, 2021
A.A. Martin, J.A. Hammons, H.B. Henderson, N.P. Calta, M.H. Nielsen, C.C. Cook, J. Ye, A.A. Maich, N.E. Teslich, T.T. Li, M.J. Thompson, M.F. Besser, M.J. Matthews, R.T. Ott, O. Rios, S.K. McCall, T.M. Willey, J.R.I. Lee

Quantitation of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectra at Earth’s Magnetic Field
Analytical Chemistry, 2021
D.C. Kaseman, M.W. Malone, A. Tondreau, M.A. Espy, R.F. Williams

Spontaneous dynamical disordering of borophenes in MgB2 and related metal borides
Nature Communications, 2021
S. Li, H. Gunda, K.G. Ray, C.-S. Wong, P. Xiao, R.W. Friddle, Y.-S. Liu, S.Y. Kang, C. Dun, J.D. Sugar, R.D. Kolasinski, L.F. Wan, A.A. Baker, J.R.I. Lee, J.J. Urban, K. Jasuja, M.D. Allendorf, V. Stavila, B.C. Wood

TEM Sample Preparation of Buried Interfaces in Porous Layered Materials
Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2021
W.L. York, D. Dong, D. Hanping, J.D. Sugar

Prior

Chemical Analysis of Fluorobenzenes via Multinuclear Detection in the Strong Heteronuclear J-Coupling Regime
Applied Sciences, 2020
D.C. Kaseman, M.T. Janicke, R.K. Frankle, T. Nelson, G. Angles-Tamayo, R.J. Batrice, P.E. Magnelind, M.A. Espy, R.F. Williams

Cold Spray Deposition of Thermoelectric Materials
Journal of Materials, 2020
A.A. Baker, R. Thuss, N. Woollett, A. Maich, E. Stavrou, S.K. McCall, H.B. Radousky

Controlling interdependent meso-nanosecond dynamics and defect generation in metal 3D printing
Science, 2020
S.A. Khairallah, A.A. Martin, J.R.I. Lee, G. Guss, N.P. Calta, J.A. Hammons, M.H. Nielsen, K. Chaput, E. Schwalbach, M.N. Shah, M.G. Chapman, T.M. Willey, A.M. Rubenchik, A.T. Anderson, Y.M. Wang, M.J. Matthews, W.E. King

Correction of Q Factor Effects for Simultaneous Collection of Elemental Analysis and Relaxation Times by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Analytical Chemistry, 2020
S. Widgeon Paisner, M.T. Janicke, D.C. Kaseman, R.K. Frankle, J.L. Yoder, M.A. Alvarez, M.A. Espy, R.F. Williams

Design and implementation of a J-coupled spectrometer for multidimensional structure and relaxation detection at low magnetic fields
Review of Scientific Instruments, 2020
D.C. Kaseman, P.E. Magnelind, S. Widgeon Paisner, J.L. Yoder, M. Alvarez, A.V. Urbaitis, M.T. Janicke, P. Nath, M.A. Espy, R.F. Williams

Efficient control of atom arrangement in ternary metal chalcogenide nanoparticles using precursor oxidation state
Chemistry of Materials, 2020
E.A. Eikey, X.Y. Gan, D.C. Kaseman, C.G.E. Murphey, S.E. Crawford, K.A. Johnston, S. Yazdi, J.E. Millstone

Moisture Corrosion of LiH: A Kinetic Investigation by DRIFT Spectroscopy
Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2020
S.M. Matt, J.M. Haschke, W. McLean, L.N. Dinh

Nanoscale Mg–B via Surfactant Ball Milling of MgB2: Morphology, Composition, and Improved Hydrogen Storage Properties
The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2020
Y.S. Liu, K.G. Ray, M. Jørgensen, T.M. Mattox, D.F. Cowgill, H.V. Eshelman, A.M. Sawvel, J.L. Snider, W.L. York, P. Wijeratne

Phase Change-Driven Negative Activation Energies in Pd/Carbon-Based/Organic Getter Hydrogenation Reactions
Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2020
L.N. Dinh, H.N. Sharma, S.M. Matt, W. McLean, R.S. Maxwell

A Method for FIB Liftout of Particles in Epoxy Resin
Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2019
W.L. York, D. Robinson, J.D. Sugar

Detonation synthesis of carbon nano-onions via liquid carbon condensation
Nature Communications, 2019
M. Bagge-Hansen, S. Bastea, J.A. Hammons, M.H. Nielsen, L.M. Lauderbach, R.L. Hodgin, P. Pagoria, C. May, S. Aloni, A. Jones, W.L. Shaw, E.V. Bukovsky, N. Sinclair, R.L. Gustavsen, E.B. Watkins, B.J. Jensen, D.M. Dattelbaum, M.A. Firestone, R.C. Huber, B.S. Ringstrand, J.R.I. Lee, T. van Buuren, L.E. Fried, T.M. Willey

Hardness Variation of Microstructural Heterogeneities in Directed Energy Deposited 304L Stainless Steel
Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2019
V. Heidy, T.R. Smith, C.W. San Marchi, J.D. Sugar, R.W. Friddle, W.L. York

Solid-Phase Reactive Inter-Diffusion of Mg/B Multilayers
Journal of Applied Physics, 2019
L.B. Bayu Aji, A.A. Baker, R.E. Jacob, A.A. Maich, J.H. Bae, J.A. Rodriguez, S.K. McCall, S.O. Kucheyev

Ultrafast dynamics of laser-metal interactions in additive manufacturing alloys captured by in situ X-ray imaging
Materials Today Advances, 2019
A.A. Martin, N.P. Calta, J.A. Hammons, S.A. Khairallah, M.H. Nielsen, R.M. Shuttlesworth, N. Sinclair, M.J. Matthews, J.R. Jeffries, T.M. Willey, J.R.I. Lee

Materials Characterization Group

Our team

Leadership

Group members

Select publications

2024

2023

2022

2021

Prior