In its infancy, the universe was awash in fundamental particles. Over billions of years, matter cooled and clumped into stars and galaxies, tied together by a cosmic web of dark matter.
Working at the forefront of particle physics, SLAC scientists use powerful particle accelerators to create and study nature’s fundamental building blocks and forces, build sensitive detectors to search for new particles and develop theories that explain and guide experiments.
Accelerators form the backbone of SLAC's national user facilities. They are complicated machines, with hundreds of thousands of components that all need to be designed, engineered, operated and maintained to achieve the highest energy acceleration and the highest quality particle...
With their ability to penetrate matter and resolve individual atoms, X-rays and electrons are among scientists’ most useful tools for determining the structure and behavior of molecules and materials.
In a landmark experiment at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, scientists used an X-ray laser to capture the first snapshots of a chemical interaction between...
SLAC develops and deploys some of the world’s most advanced scientific tools for exploring how the universe works at the biggest, smallest and fastest scales. Here we explain how they work and the exciting discoveries they make possible.
The lab is organized into six scientific directorates, each of which plays an important role in advancing our lab, backed by our core operations teams all supporting our shared mission.
Learn about SLAC’s senior leadership, directorates and core teams below. For an overview of our organizational structure, you can download the interactive PDF org chart.
SLAC’s Office of Communications is committed to giving members of the media accurate, up-to-date information about the lab and its research and making our experts available for interviews.
SLAC research explores nature on all scales, from the unseen realms of fundamental particles and unbelievably fast processes to astrophysical phenomena of cosmic dimensions that unfold over the age of the universe. Our research opens new windows to the natural...
SLAC researchers are experts in a broad range of scientific disciplines, including X-ray and ultrafast science, physics of the universe, advanced accelerators, energy sciences, science of life and new technologies.
