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June 15, 2022

News Brief

Researchers model accelerator magnets' history using machine learning approach

Knowing a magnet’s past will allow scientists to customize particle beams more precisely in the future. As accelerators stretch for higher levels of performance, understanding subtle effects, such as those introduced by magnetic history, is becoming more critical.

A magnet on a test stand inside SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

April 29, 2022

News Feature

How a soil microbe could rev up artificial photosynthesis

Researchers discover that a spot of molecular glue and a timely twist help a bacterial enzyme convert carbon dioxide into carbon compounds 20 times faster than plant enzymes do during photosynthesis. The results stand to accelerate progress toward converting carbon dioxide into a variety of products.

An illustration shows the pocket in an enzyme called ECR where the carbon fixing reaction takes place.

March 9, 2022

News Feature

In a first, researchers image the full structure of trapped excitons

It’s a significant step in understanding these whirling quasiparticles and putting them to work in future semiconductor technologies.

A beam of light hits a semiconductor material, ejecting an electron (blue) which goes on to partner with a hole (orange) to form a whirling compound particle, the exciton.

March 7, 2022

News Feature

Q&A: From particle beams to cancer treatment – fundamental research that affects everyday life

SLAC’s Matt Garrett and Susan Simpkins talk about tech transfer that brings innovations from the national lab to the people, including advances for medical devices and self-driving vehicles.

February 28, 2022

News Feature

GISMo lab's innovative plan to make electricity cheaper, greener and more reliable

A cellphone-sized device automatically adjusts a home's power use up or down to save the consumer money and increase the resiliency of the electric grid.

Aerial image of workers installing solar panels on a home

February 14, 2022

News Feature

A new way to shape a material’s atomic structure with ultrafast laser light

X-ray laser experiments show that intense light distorts the structure of a thermoelectric material in a unique way, opening a new avenue for controlling the properties of materials.

Illustration shows two ball-and-stick molecules in pink and red separated by a blurred streak representing how the first structure is slightly deformed into the second.

January 6, 2022

News Feature

First realistic portraits of squishy layer that’s key to battery performance

Cryo-EM snapshots of the solid-electrolyte interphase, or SEI, reveal its natural swollen state and offer a new approach to lithium-metal battery design.