LCLS Soft X-ray Materials Science (SXR)
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A Single Electron’s Tiny Leap Sets Off ‘Molecular Sunscreen’ Response
A new X-ray laser technique allows scientists to home in on these single-electron triggers to better understand organic molecules that respond to light, including receptors in your eyes, plastic products and DNA building blocks that need to protect themselves from cancer-causing mutations.
Dawson Award Recognizes SLAC X-ray Laser Experiment that Probed 3.6-million-degree Matter
The 2010 experiment marked a significant step forward in understanding extreme states of matter at the hearts of stars, planets and nuclear fusion reactions.
Scientists Track Ultrafast Creation of a Catalyst with X-ray Laser
Researchers use X-ray laser at SLAC to track light-triggered chemical reactions in a molecule that serves as a simple model for the conversion of solar energy into fuel.
Scientists Get First Glimpse of a Chemical Bond Being Born
Scientists have used an X-ray laser at SLAC to get the first glimpse of the transition state where two atoms begin to form a weak bond on the way to becoming a molecule.
Scientists Use X-rays to Look at How DNA Protects Itself from UV Light
DNA’s molecular building blocks absorb ultraviolet light so strongly that sunlight should deactivate them – yet it doesn’t. A new SLAC study reveals details of a “relaxation response” that protects these molecules and the genetic information they encode.
Scientists Capture Ultrafast Snapshots of Light-driven Superconductivity
A new study, based on an experiment at SLAC's X-ray laser, pins down a major factor behind the appearance of superconductivity—the ability to conduct electricity with 100 percent efficiency—in a promising copper-oxide material.
X-ray Laser Sheds New Light on Quest for Faster Data Storage
An experiment at SLAC’s X-ray laser has revealed the first atomic-scale details of a new technique that could point the way to faster data storage in smartphones, laptops and other devices.
Speed Limit Set for Ultrafast Electrical Switch
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have clocked the fastest-possible electrical switching in magnetite, a naturally magnetic mineral. Their results could drive innovations in the tiny transistors that control the flow of electricity across silicon chips, enabling faster, more powerful computing devices.
Former SLAC Intern is Youngest to Lead LCLS Experiment
Stephanie Mack, 20, read and reread the email in disbelief. After spending time during the past two summers in a science internship program at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, she was heading back.
This time she would be at the helm of the world's most powerful X-ray laser, leading an international collaboration as the principal investigator in an experiment exploring how to precisely control the motion of electrons in specially prepared samples of a mineral called manganite.
Breakthrough Research Shows Chemical Reaction in Real Time
The ultrafast, ultrabright X-ray pulses of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) have enabled unprecedented views of a catalyst in action, an important step in the effort to develop cleaner and more efficient energy sources.
