SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory | Bold People. Visionary Science. Real Impact.

SLAC’s campus looking south with Interstate 280 in the distance.

The 3,200-megapixel LSST Camera is being tested inside the clean room at SLAC. The camera is the central component of the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

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Sunrise timelapse of SSRL (Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource)

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Aerial view of SLAC’s campus. Stanford campus and Hoover tower can be seen in the distance.

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SLAC’s research yard in the foreground, with the LINAC stretching 2 miles to the west, and SLAC’s campus on the right.

Bold People
Visionary Science
Real Impact

We explore how the universe works at the biggest, smallest and fastest scales and invent powerful tools used by scientists around the globe. Our research helps solve real-world problems and advances the interests of the nation.

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Visionary Science

Explore our frontier research

X-ray & ultrafast science

Revealing nature’s fastest processes with X-rays, lasers and electrons

Physics of the universe

Studying the particles and forces that knit the cosmos together

Advanced accelerators

Building smaller, faster, more powerful accelerators for all

Science of life

Understanding the machinery of life at its most basic level

New technologies

Inventing new tools for science and society

Energy sciences

Finding clean, sustainable solutions for the world’s energy challenges

LATEST UPDATES

SLAC news center

News Feature

NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is about to embark on its quest to capture the cosmos, marking the culmination of decades of work by thousands of people across the globe.

A group photo in front of a large telescope mounting system.

News Feature

One-quintillionth of a second lasing breakthrough could lead to next-generation X-ray technologies, improving imaging in medical, material, and quantum science.

A purple blob with black streaks and a yellow center.

News Feature

The upgrades to SSRL’s resonant soft X-ray scattering beam line could reveal the hidden physics in high-temperature superconductors.

A gold beam strikes a sample inside a copper colored apparatus. A white beam emerges.

News Feature

NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory will add an unprecedented amount of cosmological data to the study of the structure and expansion of the Universe.

An illustration of a woman holding a book is surrounded by photographic negatives showing pictures of the universe.

News Feature

One-quintillionth of a second lasing breakthrough could lead to next-generation X-ray technologies, improving imaging in medical, material, and quantum science.

News Feature

The upgrades to SSRL’s resonant soft X-ray scattering beam line could reveal the hidden physics in high-temperature superconductors.

News Feature

NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory will add an unprecedented amount of cosmological data to the study of the structure and expansion of the Universe.

News Brief

SLAC researchers drew on advanced computation and X-ray methods to track down a water-splitting copper catalyst.

Illustration of X-ray beam interacting with the catalyst surface.

News Brief

The team watched how a strained strontium titanate membrane crossed into ferroelectric – and quantum – territory.

A gold beam bounces off an atomic lattice made of red and blue spheres.

News Feature

He met with SLAC staff and toured the lab’s cutting-edge facilities, diving into world-leading research in X-ray and ultrafast science, artificial intelligence, astrophysics and...

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SLAC EVENTS

What’s happening

Upcoming Event

Please join us for a workshop being hosted as part of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s X-ray and Ultrafast Strategic Initiative. The workshop is focused...

Mastering Materials Durability for Next-Generation Energy Technologies

Jun 25–26

Upcoming Event

Save the date. This annual meeting is a unique opportunity to gather together the light source community in a single scientific event that includes...

Sep 22–26

WHERE RESEARCH HAPPENS

Facilities & centers

At our large-scale facilities and specialized centers, scientists take advantage of powerful tools and unique expertise and collaborate with each other across a wide range of disciplines. Working together is what makes science tick.

Scientific facilities Joint institutes & centers

Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) at sunset — SLAC’s Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) provides extremely bright X-rays that scientists use in a wide range of research to probe matter on the scale of atoms and molecules. (*Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)*

The linac with Interstate 280 bridge and Stanford University in the distance. — The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world’s first hard X-ray free-electron laser, allows researchers to make stop-action movies of chemistry in action and explore proteins for new pharmaceuticals. (*Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)*

FACET-II provides high-energy electron beams for researching revolutionary particle accelerator technologies that could make future accelerators 100 to 1,000 times smaller and a lot more capable. *(Peter Ginter/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)*

The Stanford-SLAC cryo-EM facility gives scientists unprecedented views of the inner workings of the cell and of technologies like batteries and solar cells. — The Stanford-SLAC CryoEM center gives scientists unprecedented views of the inner workings of the cell and of technologies like batteries and solar cells. *(Andy Freeberg/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)*

MEET OUR TEAMS

SLAC people

To achieve our ambitious goals and keep SLAC a great place to work, the lab needs a creative, diverse and united workforce – people with a wide variety of experiences, ideas, skills and backgrounds.

Members of the MEC-Upgrade Project tri-lab collaboration on the roof patio of LCLS. — Members of the MEC Upgrade Project tri-lab collaboration on the roof patio of LCLS. (*Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)*

SLAC employees participated in the first campus pride parade, 2022. — SLAC employees participated in the first onsite Pride Parade on June 29, 2022. (*Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)*

Anna Rosa Ziefuss, Chris Crissman, Dr. Siegfried Glenzer, Griffin Glenn, and Zhijiang Chen at LCLS's laser lab. — Anna Rosa Ziefuss, Chris Crissman, Dr. Siegfried Glenzer, Griffin Glenn, and Zhijiang Chen at the HEDS (High Energy Density Science) Sector 10 Laser Lab. (*Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)*

Jeney Wierman of SLAC’s Structural Molecular Biology team — Jeney Wierman stands in the control room of SSRL. She, along with other members of the Structural Molecular Biology team, supports three beamlines, 12-1, 12-2 and 9-2, which are dedicated to helping research from all over the world, creating 3D atomic-resolution shapes of various SARS-CoV-2 related proteins. (*Linda McCulloch/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)*

The TMO Control Room 1.1 located in the Near Experimental Hall at LCLS — From left, Project Scientist Dr. Razib Obaid, Staff Scientist Ming-Fu Lin, Associate Scientist Taran Driver and Doctoral Student Erik Isele work in the TMO Control Room 1.1, located in the Near Experimental Hall at LCLS. (*Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell*/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

Work with us Life at SLAC

SLAC is a vibrant community of diverse perspectives and expertise, all working together to solve some of the most pressing challenges of our times."
John Sarrao Lab Director

About SLAC video still frame — SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is a Department of Energy national lab run by Stanford in the heart of Silicon Valley. We invent scientific tools to explore the universe at its biggest, its smallest and its fastest. *(Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)*

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