LCLS Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC)

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October 21, 2019
News Feature
A day in the life of an extreme matter scientist
Chemist Ben Ofori-Okai investigates what happens to matter under extreme conditions at microscopic scales to better understand its behavior at massive scales, such as what happens in the Earth’s core.
Ben Ofori-Okai
April 10, 2019
News Feature
10 ways SLAC’s X-ray laser has transformed science
In the decade since LCLS produced its first light, it has pushed boundaries in countless areas of discovery.
Undulator Hall
March 13, 2019
News Feature
A new lens on materials under extreme conditions allows researchers to watch shock waves travel through silicon
Researchers used a unique approach to learn more about what happens to silicon under intense pressure.
silicon waves
October 30, 2018
News Feature
SLAC joins new LaserNetUS network to boost high-intensity laser research
The initiative will give scientists more access to powerful lasers at universities and labs.
MEC LaserNet
October 2, 2018
News Feature
Peering into 36-million-degree plasma with SLAC’s X-ray laser
In a first, researchers measure extremely small and fast changes that occur in plasma when it’s zapped with a laser. Their technique will have applications in astrophysics, medicine and fusion energy.
LCLS Plasma Expansion
July 26, 2018
News Feature
Emma McBride and Caterina Vernieri Receive 2018 Panofsky Fellowships at SLAC
Their work will deepen our understanding of matter in extreme conditions and fundamental particle physics.
Panofsky Fellows 2018
December 8, 2017
News Feature
Social Media: Highlights from Six Months of LCLS Experiments
Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to during the last experimental run – from June to November 2017 – at the Linac Coherent Light Source.
A research collaboration in the CXI control room.
November 16, 2017
News Feature
Scientists Make First Observations of How a Meteor-Like Shock Turns Silica Into Glass
Research with SLAC’s X-ray laser simulates what happens when a meteor hits Earth’s crust. The results suggest that scientists studying impact sites have been overestimating the sizes of the meteors that made them.
November 13, 2017
News Feature
SLAC X-ray Laser Reveals How Extreme Shocks Deform a Metal’s Atomic Structure
A new way to observe this deformation as it happens can help study a wide range of phenomena, from meteor impacts to high-performance ceramics used in armor, as well as how to protect spacecraft from high-speed dust impacts.
Image depicting an experiment at LCLS that shocks a tantalum sample
August 21, 2017
Press Release
Scientists Create ‘Diamond Rain’ That Forms in the Interior of Icy Giant Planets
SLAC’s X-ray laser and Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument allow researchers to examine the exotic precipitation in real time as it materializes in the laboratory.
A cutaway depicts the interior of Neptune (right) and an illustration of diamond rain (left)

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