X-ray Spectroscopy

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May 26, 2022
News Feature
Researchers aim X-rays at century-old plant secretions for insight into Aboriginal Australian cultural heritage
By revealing the chemistry of plant secretions, or exudates, these studies build a basis for better understanding and conserving art and tools made with plant materials.
Plant secretion from what is called "grass tree."
May 10, 2022
Press Release
SLAC’s superconducting X-ray laser reaches operating temperature colder than outer space
The facility, LCLS-II, will soon sharpen our view of how nature works on ultrasmall, ultrafast scales, impacting everything from quantum devices to clean energy.
LCLS-II cooldown
April 8, 2022
News Feature
San Jose State students study nanodiamonds at SLAC’s synchrotron
A physical chemist and a diverse group of his students are working on applications with nanoscopic diamonds.
Three side-by-side portraits.
January 19, 2022
News Feature
Analysis of the rock record rules out atmospheric oxygen before the Great Oxygenation Event
New research questions ‘whiff of oxygen’ in Earth’s early history.
Blue and purple image showing cracks where arsenic and copper entered a shale sample.
November 16, 2021
News Feature
Bucket brigades and proton gates: Researchers shed new light on water’s role in photosynthesis
A better understanding of this process could inform the next generation of artificial photosynthetic systems that produce clean and renewable energy.
water droplets on plant
October 13, 2021
News Brief
SSRL and LCLS Host 2021 Users’ Meeting
Scientists who perform experiments at SLAC’s lightsources gathered online for research talks, workshops and discussions.
Aerial view of industrial-looking research buildings
September 8, 2021
News Feature
Stanford graduate student Aisulu Aitbekova wins 2021 Melvin P. Klein Award
The award recognizes Aitbekova's work on catalysts, including a new catalyst that may revolutionize car emission controls.
A portrait of a woman wearing a tan shirt.
August 4, 2021
News Feature
Scientists show a single catalyst can perform the first step of turning CO2 into fuel in two very different ways
Their work aims to bridge two approaches to driving the reaction – one powered by heat, the other by electricity – with the goal of discovering more efficient and sustainable ways to convert carbon dioxide into useful products.
A ball-and-stick illustration of a single nickel atom (green) bonded to nitrogen atoms (blue) on the surface of a carbon material. The arrangement allows the nickel atoms to catalyze two types of reactions involved in making fuel from CO2.
August 2, 2021
News Feature
Ilya Belopolski wins 2021 Spicer Young Investigator Award for work on exotic quantum materials
Belopolski has made key discoveries about Weyl semimetals and topological magnets, systems in which quantum effects produce new emergent particles with exotic electronic and magnetic properties.
Portrait of Ilya Belopolski
June 30, 2021
Solving a long-standing mystery about the desert’s rock art canvas
Petroglyphs are carved in a material called rock varnish, the origins of which have been debated for years. Now, scientists argue it’s the result of bacteria and an adaptation that protects them from the desert sun’s harsh rays.
Rock art featuring human and animal forms and handprints

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