News archive

Browse the full collection of SLAC news releases and features and stay up to date on the latest scientific advancements at the laboratory.

Superconducting quantum bits, or qubits, are at the heart of many quantum computers, acting like supercharged versions of the traditional bits found in classical computers.

illustration of a gyroscope

His visit highlighted the breadth of our world-class research and the people and collaborations that make it possible. A key theme of the day: how SLAC and the National Labs are advancing AI to accelerate discovery.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Danly watches a simulation of dark matter.

Researchers used LCLS to capture the ultrafast motion of electrons inside molecules – at scales never before possible. 

Complex scientific machinery with metal components

They used SLAC’s ultrafast X-ray laser to follow the impact of a single electron moving within a molecule during an entire chemical reaction.

An illustration of X-rays scattering off the valence electrons surrounding ammonia molecules and getting captured on a detector.

SLAC Deputy Director for Science and Technology Alberto Salleo's lab at Stanford is creating artificial synapses to replicate the brain’s efficiency and learning capacity in computing systems.

Alberto Salleo and graduate student Scott Keene in the lab

The technique could improve how scientists study materials and drive advancements in high-performance technologies, such as next-generation computer chips.

poincare beams

With a suite of reimagined instruments, researchers take up scientific inquiries that were out of reach just one year ago. 

Large metallic machine in a lab, featuring valves, circular bolts, and digital displays with surrounding wires and tubing.

These observations are a crucial step toward truly understanding chemical processes.

Artist's impression: Diiodomethane irradiated with infrared light can undergo several different reactions. An intense X-ray pulse and a reaction microscope are used to characterize three major reaction pathways, illustrated in the figure.

The team unexpectedly formed gold hydride in an experiment that could pave the way for studying materials under extreme conditions like those found inside certain planets and stars undergoing nuclear fusion.

Intense pulses from an X-ray free-electron laser heat compressed samples of hydrocarbons to extreme conditions, resulting in the reaction of gold and hydrogen to form gold hydride.

Results obtained with SLAC’s X-ray laser show how tiny magnetic coils can align over a surprisingly broad timescale, inspiring new ideas for microelectronics. 

Vibrant 3D model with red and blue wave patterns on a layered surface, depicting magnetization points, set against blurry background.