Press releases

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

Just as Schroedinger's Cat is both alive and dead, an atom or molecule can be in two different states at once. Now scientists have exploited this behavior to make X-ray movies of atomic motion with much more detail than ever...

Illustration of a molecule splitting into two Schroedinger's Cat states

Method creates new opportunities for studies of extremely fast processes in biology, chemistry and materials science.

Researchers at SLAC and Stanford have created a nanostructured device, about half the size of a postage stamp, that harnesses more of the sun's spectrum of light to disinfect water much faster than with ultraviolet rays alone.

A researcher holds a tiny device that uses sunlight to disinfect water.

An interdisciplinary team has developed a way to track how particles charge and discharge at the nanoscale, an advance that will lead to better batteries for all sorts of mobile applications.

Before Hitomi died, it sent back X-ray data that explain how turbulent motions may prevent cooling of hot gas.

High-speed X-ray camera reveals ultrafast atomic motions at the root of organisms’ ability to turn light into biological function.

a protein from photosynthetic bacteria

Upgrade will sharpen our view of nature’s atomic processes at work, aiding the development of a number of transformative technologies.

Illustration of an electron beam traveling through a niobium cavity.

Scientists have used X-rays to observe exactly how silver electrical contacts form during manufacturing of solar modules.

A new study with the LCLS X-ray laser could change the way researchers take atomic-level snapshots of important biological machineries, potentially affecting research in drug development, clean energy production and many more areas.

Wrapping silicon anode particles in custom-fit graphene cages could solve two major obstacles to using silicon in high-capacity lithium ion batteries.

Illustration of silicon particles with and without graphene cages