Postdoctoral research programs fuel the research engine and recruit new talent continued

This year we launched a new Seaborg Institute Postdoctoral Fellows Program for education and training, and for assisting the Laboratory with recruiting a pool of highly talented postdocs in actinide science fields. We are proud to highlight the scientific research and educational outreach activities of three of our postdocs in this issue of Actinide Research Quarterly.

In the first article by Andrew Gaunt from Chemistry Division, we learn of fundamental new chemistry displayed by actinide elements interacting with “soft” electron donor atoms such as sulfur and selenium. These soft-donor complexes are important in advanced nuclear fuel cycles because they can accomplish the efficient solution separation of trivalent actinides from trivalent lanthanides. It is generally believed that this separation is achieved because of greater covalency in metal-ligand bonding in actinides relative to lanthanides. Andrew’s work will go a long way toward helping us understand the nature of metal-sulfur and metal-selenium bonding, and ultimately understand the factors that lead to enhanced covalency in actinides relative to lanthanides.

The next article features the work of Eric Bauer from Materials Science and Technology Division, one of the first postdoctoral fellows sponsored by the Seaborg Institute’s new program. Eric has recently been named the Laboratory’s second Frederick Reines Fellow. Eric and his colleagues describe new ways to modify and enhance a rather exotic superconductivity in a new class of plutonium intermetallic compounds. We learn that superconductivity in these intermetallics is associated with the tendency of the 5f electrons to display both localized and itinerant behavior. Eric’s work reveals that the plutonium superconductivity is unconventional, and that a layered two-dimensional structure likely imparts some control over spin fluctuations of the 5f electrons. The 5f electron behavior shows some similarity to the 5f behavior in delta-stabilized plutonium. What we learn from studies of plutonium superconductivity will likely help us to understand the enigmatic nature of plutonium metal itself.

The final article is written by Ralph Zehnder from Chemistry Division, who has finished postdoctoral studies and will begin his tenure as an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Louisiana this fall. Ralph’s research has been in the area of solid-state f-element chemistry, but this is not the topic of his contribution. Instead, Ralph shares an inspiring story about community outreach that reminds us of the tremendous impact that good teachers can have on the lives of young students. Ralph’s account of his interaction with grade-school children reminds us that as Los Alamos scientists and engineers, we are also members of a larger community—a community full of children ready and eager to learn about the natural world. With only a small investment of time, Los Alamos scientists and engineers can help explain this natural world to children in northern New Mexico, and perhaps set some on the path to become scientific leaders of the future.

Postdoctoral programs at Los Alamos offer the opportunity for young investigators to perform research in a scientifically rich environment, present and publish research, contribute to the overall research efforts at the Laboratory, advance knowledge in the areas of basic and applied research, and strengthen our national scientific and technical capabilities. Postdoctoral programs are one of the most successful recruiting tools at the Laboratory. For more information on postdoctoral programs at Los Alamos, see
http://www.lanl.gov/science/postdocs/.
—David L. Clark and Gordon D. Jarvinen,
ARQ Scientific Advisors

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