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Research facility · Albuquerque · United States

Sandia National Laboratories

In research, Sandia National Laboratories stands highest in Physical Sciences (#554 of 10,670 worldwide), Engineering (#599 of 5,901 worldwide) and Physics and Astronomy (#322 of 1,417 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Metals and Alloys, Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes and Hardware and Architecture (Metals and Alloys is 13.5× its share of world research).

sandia.govROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#1,215
of 22,385 · #498 all time
Rank in United States
#267
of 3,332
Research works
43k
▲ 54% vs 2018-21
Citations
1.2M
28.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
5.0%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.68×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
34%
world 40%
International
7%
world 18%
Sandia National Laboratories

What is Sandia National Laboratories known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #554 of 10,670 4.6%5,305 #214
EngineeringField #599 of 5,901 4.2%2,611 #185
Physics and AstronomyField #322 of 1,417 8.4%510 #186
Electrical and Electronic EngineeringSubfield #527 of 2,176 4.8%737 #153
Materials ChemistrySubfield #584 of 1,473 4.2%427 #152
Environmental ScienceField #1,370 of 3,334 3.5%196 #1029
Computer ScienceField #1,857 of 4,417 3.3%726 #397
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield #235 of 547 9.6%209 #119
Biomedical EngineeringSubfield #709 of 1,539 5.7%195 #248
Mechanical EngineeringSubfield #653 of 1,319 3.6%294 #214

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Sandia National Laboratories sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022-now. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Physical Sciences#214 #554
  2. Engineering#185 #599
  3. Physics and Astronomy#186 #322
  4. Electrical and Electronic Engineering#153 #527
  5. Materials Chemistry#152 #584
  6. Environmental Science#1,029 #1,370
  7. Computer Science#397 #1,857
  8. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics#119 #235
  9. Biomedical Engineering#248 #709
  10. Mechanical Engineering#214 #653
all time2022-now, better2022-now, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

Which fields of science does Sandia National Laboratories work in?

In 2022-now, 90% of research at Sandia National Laboratories is in Physical Sciences, 5% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Engineering (44%), Computer Science (12%), Materials Science (10%). It does 2.3× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 5,610 fractional works · 90.5% of its workEngineering: 2,749 fractional works · 44.3% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 770 fractional works · 12.4% of its workMechanical Engineering: 307 fractional works · 4.9% of its workAerospace Engineering: 253 fractional works · 4.1% of its workComputational Mechanics: 246 fractional works · 4.0% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 226 fractional works · 3.6% of its workMechanics of Materials: 218 fractional works · 3.5% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 211 fractional works · 3.4% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 129 fractional works · 2.1% of its workOcean Engineering: 113 fractional works · 1.8% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 101 fractional works · 1.6% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 74 fractional works · 1.2% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 60 fractional works · 1.0% of its workBuilding and Construction: 26 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 15 fractional works · 0.2% of its workComputer Science: 761 fractional works · 12.3% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 327 fractional works · 5.3% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 127 fractional works · 2.1% of its workHardware and Architecture: 68 fractional works · 1.1% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 66 fractional works · 1.1% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 65 fractional works · 1.1% of its workInformation Systems: 60 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSignal Processing: 23 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 23 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMaterials Science: 649 fractional works · 10.5% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 449 fractional works · 7.2% of its workElectronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials: 58 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPolymers and Plastics: 35 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSurfaces, Coatings and Films: 29 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMetals and Alloys: 28 fractional works · 0.4% of its workCeramics and Composites: 20 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiomaterials: 16 fractional works · 0.3% of its workGeneral Materials Science: 14 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 549 fractional works · 8.9% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 224 fractional works · 3.6% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 76 fractional works · 1.2% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 70 fractional works · 1.1% of its workRadiation: 66 fractional works · 1.1% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 56 fractional works · 0.9% of its workCondensed Matter Physics: 47 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 10 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 235 fractional works · 3.8% of its workGeophysics: 106 fractional works · 1.7% of its workAtmospheric Science: 78 fractional works · 1.3% of its workOceanography: 23 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 28 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEnvironmental Science: 210 fractional works · 3.4% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 62 fractional works · 1.0% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 47 fractional works · 0.8% of its workWater Science and Technology: 21 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 18 fractional works · 0.3% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 16 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEcology: 15 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPollution: 13 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 19 fractional works · 0.3% of its workChemistry: 156 fractional works · 2.5% of its workInorganic Chemistry: 47 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSpectroscopy: 43 fractional works · 0.7% of its workOrganic Chemistry: 38 fractional works · 0.6% of its workPhysical and Theoretical Chemistry: 16 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 12 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEnergy: 115 fractional works · 1.8% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 91 fractional works · 1.5% of its workEnergy Engineering and Power Technology: 22 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.0% of its workMathematics: 94 fractional works · 1.5% of its workApplied Mathematics: 37 fractional works · 0.6% of its workNumerical Analysis: 19 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 38 fractional works · 0.6% of its workChemical Engineering: 92 fractional works · 1.5% of its workFluid Flow and Transfer Processes: 51 fractional works · 0.8% of its workCatalysis: 27 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 13 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSocial Sciences: 322 fractional works · 5.2% of its workDecision Sciences: 176 fractional works · 2.8% of its workStatistics, Probability and Uncertainty: 84 fractional works · 1.4% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 49 fractional works · 0.8% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 41 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSocial Sciences: 66 fractional works · 1.1% of its workSociology and Political Science: 23 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 17 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 26 fractional works · 0.4% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 27 fractional works · 0.4% of its workManagement Information Systems: 15 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 12 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 20 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 15 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 5 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPsychology: 18 fractional works · 0.3% of its workArts and Humanities: 16 fractional works · 0.3% of its workLife Sciences: 149 fractional works · 2.4% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 89 fractional works · 1.4% of its workMolecular Biology: 55 fractional works · 0.9% of its workSmaller subfields together: 34 fractional works · 0.5% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 27 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNeuroscience: 26 fractional works · 0.4% of its workCognitive Neuroscience: 17 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 9 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 5 fractional works · 0.1% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 3 fractional works · 0.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 119 fractional works · 1.9% of its workMedicine: 98 fractional works · 1.6% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 38 fractional works · 0.6% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 13 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 47 fractional works · 0.8% of its workHealth Professions: 19 fractional works · 0.3% of its workALL ITS WORKSandia NationalLaboratories6,200fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences2%Physical Sciences90%Health Sciences2%Social Sciences5%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 26 fields, with their numbers
    1. Engineering2,74944.3%
    2. Computer Science76112.3%
    3. Materials Science64910.5%
    4. Physics and Astronomy5498.9%
    5. Earth and Planetary Sciences2353.8%
    6. Environmental Science2103.4%
    7. Chemistry1562.5%
    8. Energy1151.8%
    9. Mathematics941.5%
    10. Chemical Engineering921.5%
    1. Decision Sciences1762.8%
    2. Social Sciences661.1%
    3. Business, Management and Accounting270.4%
    4. Economics, Econometrics and Finance200.3%
    5. Psychology180.3%
    6. Arts and Humanities160.3%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology891.4%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences270.4%
    3. Neuroscience260.4%
    4. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics50.1%
    5. Immunology and Microbiology30.0%
    1. Medicine981.6%
    2. Health Professions190.3%
    3. Dentistry10.0%
    4. Veterinary10.0%
    5. Nursing00.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Sandia National Laboratories specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Metals and Alloys takes 13.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Metals and AlloysSubfield · 27.5 works13×
  2. Fluid Flow and Transfer ProcessesSubfield · 51.4 works11×
  3. Hardware and ArchitectureSubfield · 68.5 works9.8×
  4. Statistics, Probability and UncertaintySubfield · 84.4 works8.1×
  5. RadiationSubfield · 66.4 works7.8×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.09× its world share, 27 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.27× its world share, 89 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.04× its world share, 3 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.26× its world share, 26 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.23× its world share, 5 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 4.23× its world share, 92 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.61× its world share, 156 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.58× its world share, 760 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2.42× its world share, 235 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 2.01× its world share, 114 worksEnergyEngineering: 2.96× its world share, 2,749 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.68× its world share, 210 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 3.00× its world share, 649 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.30× its world share, 94 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 3.98× its world share, 549 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.02× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.12× its world share, 19 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.08× its world share, 98 worksMedicineNursing: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.07× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.09× its world share, 16 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.14× its world share, 27 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 2.93× its world share, 176 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.15× its world share, 20 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.09× its world share, 18 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.08× its world share, 66 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Chemical Engineering, 4.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 26 fields, with their numbers
  1. Chemical Engineering4.23×92 works
  2. Physics and Astronomy3.98×549 works
  3. Materials Science3.00×649 works
  4. Engineering2.96×2,749 works
  5. Decision Sciences2.93×176 works
  6. Earth and Planetary Sciences2.42×235 works
  7. Energy2.01×114 works
  8. Chemistry1.61×156 works
  9. Computer Science1.58×760 works
  10. Mathematics1.30×94 works
  11. Environmental Science0.68×210 works
  12. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.27×89 works
  13. Neuroscience0.26×26 works
  14. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.23×5 works
  15. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.15×20 works
  16. Business, Management and Accounting0.14×27 works
  17. Health Professions0.12×19 works
  18. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.09×27 works
  19. Arts and Humanities0.09×16 works
  20. Psychology0.09×18 works
  21. Medicine0.08×98 works
  22. Social Sciences0.08×66 works
  23. Veterinary0.07×1 works
  24. Immunology and Microbiology0.04×3 works
  25. Dentistry0.02×1 works
  26. Nursing0.01×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Sandia National Laboratories?

Ranked on the quality score, C. Jeffrey Brinker, John E. Dec and J.R. Schwank lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Sandia National Laboratories.

  1. 1 C. Jeffrey Brinker United States · #60,380 worldwide 49k citations · 549 works
  2. 2 John E. Dec United States · #76,057 worldwide 13k citations · 148 works
  3. 3 J.R. Schwank United States · #96,286 worldwide 11k citations · 192 works
  4. 4 Gary S. Grest United States · #121,097 worldwide 41k citations · 797 works
  5. 5 D. Koehler United States · #127,133 worldwide 12k citations · 121 works
  6. 6 Peter S. Winokur United States · #161,281 worldwide 8.5k citations · 160 works
  7. 7 Nathan T. Hahn United States · #177,096 worldwide 6.1k citations · 151 works
  8. 8 Hongyou Fan United States · #194,687 worldwide 17k citations · 251 works
  9. 9 Xiao Hua Liu United States · #210,581 worldwide 7.5k citations · 53 works
  10. 10 Kimberly S. Butler United States · #211,097 worldwide 3.7k citations · 82 works
All ranked researchers at Sandia National Laboratories

What are the most cited papers from Sandia National Laboratories?

The most cited paper from Sandia National Laboratories is "Fast Parallel Algorithms for Short-Range Molecular Dynamics" (Steven J. Plimpton, 1995), with 45,350 citations. Next come "SMOTE: Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique" (32,759) and "LAMMPS - a flexible simulation tool for particle-based materials modeling at the atomic, meso, and continuum scales" (12,569).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Fast Parallel Algorithms for Short-Range Molecular Dynamics Steven J. Plimpton · Journal of Computational Physics Mar 1995 45,350
2 SMOTE: Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique Nitesh V. Chawla, Kevin W. Bowyer, Lawrence Hall et al. · Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research Open access Jun 2002 32,759
3 LAMMPS - a flexible simulation tool for particle-based materials modeling at the atomic, meso, and continuum scales Aidan P. Thompson, Hasan Metin Aktulga, Richard A. Berger et al. · Computer Physics Communications Open access 22 Sep 2021 12,569
4 Automated docking using a Lamarckian genetic algorithm and an empirical binding free energy function Garrett M. Morris, David S. Goodsell, Robert S. Halliday et al. · Journal of Computational Chemistry 15 Nov 1998 10,945
5 Tensor Decompositions and Applications Tamara G. Kolda, Brett W. Bader · SIAM Review 5 Aug 2009 10,717
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Sandia National Laboratories?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Machine Learning, Renewable Energy, Mechanical Properties, Deep Learning, Heat Transfer, Large-Eddy Simulation, Tomography and Chemical Kinetics.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in 2022-now in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Machine Learning419▲ 2.0×74 topics
  2. Deep Learning278▲ 1.30×66 topics
  3. Renewable Energy255▲ 2.8×41 topics
  4. Mechanical Properties187▲ 3.1×34 topics
  5. Neural Networks173▲ 1.80×31 topics
  6. Nanoparticles156▲ 1.99×39 topics
  7. Heat Transfer134▲ 4.4×17 topics
  8. Catalysis114▲ 2.8×25 topics
  9. Thermal Management110▲ 5.4×8 topics
  10. Energy Storage102▲ 2.5×12 topics
  11. Large-Eddy Simulation100▲ 8.7×5 topics
  12. Tomography100▲ 9.1×5 topics
  13. Smart Grid98▲ 4.4×9 topics
  14. Microstructure97▲ 3.0×17 topics
  15. Lithium-ion Batteries97▲ 3.8×4 topics
  16. Artificial Neural Networks97▲ 3.4×8 topics
  17. Chemical Kinetics94▲ 17×3 topics
  18. Power Electronics89▲ 4.5×8 topics
  19. Additive Manufacturing83▲ 4.3×8 topics
  20. High-Performance Computing78▲ 15×3 topics
  21. Hydrogen Embrittlement76▲ 15×3 topics
  22. Parallel Computing75▲ 10×4 topics
  23. Molecular Dynamics75▲ 6.9×7 topics
  24. Inverse Problems73▲ 11×4 topics
  25. Workflow Management71▲ 16×2 topics
  26. Nanoelectronics70▲ 14×2 topics
  27. Thin Films70▲ 5.8×10 topics
  28. Monte Carlo Simulation67▲ 5.4×9 topics
  29. Distributed Systems67▲ 6.3×6 topics
  30. Emissions67▲ 5.5×5 topics
  31. Fluid Dynamics64▲ 7.3×6 topics
  32. Microstructural Evolution61▲ 6.8×4 topics
  33. Oxidation Resistance60▲ 9.2×3 topics
  34. Integrated Circuits60▲ 6.7×3 topics
  35. Quantum Mechanics60▲ 10×5 topics
  36. Combustion Instabilities58▲ 15×2 topics
  37. Density Functional Theory58▲ 9.1×4 topics
  38. Crystal Structures56▲ 10×3 topics
  39. Neuromorphic Computing56▲ 7.8×2 topics
  40. Uncertainty Quantification55▲ 11×2 topics

Which research topics does Sandia National Laboratories publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Machine Learning in Materials Science, Combustion and flame dynamics, Semiconductor materials and devices and Advanced Battery Technologies Research.

Machine Learning in Mate…52Machine Learning in Materials Science: 52 fractional worksCombustion and flame dyn…51Combustion and flame dynamics: 51 fractional worksSemiconductor materials and devices: 50 fractional worksAdvanced Battery Technologies Research: 47 fractional worksModel Reduction and Neural Networks: 45 fractional worksNeural Networks and Applications: 45 fractional worksProbabilistic and Robust Engineering Design: 44 fractional worksAdvanced Combustion Engi…42Advanced Combustion Engine Technologies: 42 fractional worksParallel Computing and Optimization Techniques: 41 fractional worksAdvanced Memory and Neural Computing: 38 fractional works
Materials ChemistryComputational MechanicsElectrical and Electronic EngineeringAutomotive Engineering5 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Machine Learning in Materials Science Materials Chemistry 52 works
  2. 2 Combustion and flame dynamics Computational Mechanics 51 works
  3. 3 Semiconductor materials and devices Electrical and Electronic Engineering 50 works
  4. 4 Advanced Battery Technologies Research Automotive Engineering 47 works
  5. 5 Model Reduction and Neural Networks Statistical and Nonlinear Physics 45 works
  6. 6 Neural Networks and Applications Artificial Intelligence 45 works
  7. 7 Probabilistic and Robust Engineering Design Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty 44 works
  8. 8 Advanced Combustion Engine Technologies Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes 42 works
  9. 9 Parallel Computing and Optimization Techniques Hardware and Architecture 41 works
  10. 10 Advanced Memory and Neural Computing Electrical and Electronic Engineering 38 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world's own shares: the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available34.0%not open66.0%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors6.6%domestic only93.4%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Sandia National Laboratories's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 54% higher than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Sandia National Laboratories as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.027% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%Sandia National Laboratories0.014% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Sandia National Laboratories over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting10%20%all institutions10.0% in 2025Sandia National Laboratories8.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 18.7% in 2006.

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Sandia National Laboratories on Science Explorer

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Its overall standing, then the domains, fields and subfields where Sandia National Laboratories is in the world's top ten or its top 1%. Each has an image of its own.

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