Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)

A series of awards were presented at the 2026 Bay Area Light Sources Joint Users' Meeting.

The region’s three powerful X-ray light sources attract researchers who study atomic-scale processes to drive innovation in batteries, biomedicine and more.

Researchers at SLAC are using high-energy X-ray pulses probe electronic motion deep within atoms and dense plasmas. 

They will explore proteins that are sensitive to magnetic fields and equations that explain our universe at the smallest and largest scales. 

Using X-ray free-electron lasers like SLAC’s LCLS, researchers study how enzymes catalyze reactions, which could help them develop drugs and other medical treatments.

Tomorrow's innovations will come from autonomous labs that slash discovery time, and SLAC's facilities are taking the lead in a new collaboration with Stanford, other national labs, universities, and industry.

SLAC and Stanford scientists used ultrafast electrons and a laser to reveal an unexpectedly strong optical response to ionization, opening new possibilities for radiological imaging and sensing while shedding light on the fundamental behavior of materials.

New research reveals how a molecule absorbs light and gains a proton while its watery environment reorganizes in response. 

A novel neural network will make it easier to store and retrieve the massive amounts of raw data coming from experiments across scientific fields.

Researchers have documented the ultrafast motion of electrons, including two processes never before captured on their natural timescales.

Using the powerful LCLS X-ray laser, researchers at SLAC have directly imaged for the first time how molecules rearrange during a chemical reaction controlled by light.

The lab’s contributions to the national AI initiative are bolstered by its breakthrough scientific tools, unprecedented data and unique partnerships that help illuminate nature from the expansion of the universe to the motions of electrons.