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Accelerator engineering RSS feed

Accelerators have hundreds of thousands of components that all need to be designed, engineered, operated and maintained. Research at SLAC is paving the way to a new generation of particle acceleration technology.

SXU

Photograph

At left is physicist Dorian Bohler. Staff gathered in Bldg 52's main control room on October 6, 2022 in anticipating seeing the first electrons...

At left is physicist Dorian Bohler. Staff gathered in Bldg 52's main control room on October 6, 2022 in anticipating seeing the first electrons from LCLS-II.
Illustration

Scientists use a series of magnets to transform an electron bunch into a narrow current spike which then produces a very intense attosecond X-ray...

XLEAP illustration
News Brief

Knowing a magnet’s past will allow scientists to customize particle beams more precisely in the future. As accelerators stretch for higher levels of performance...

A magnet on a test stand inside SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
News Feature

Edelen draws on machine learning to fine tune particle accelerators, while Kurinsky develops dark matter detectors informed by quantum information science.

Side by side photographs of a woman and a man.
Illustration
A half-mile-long stretch of tunnel in Menlo Park, California is now colder than most of the universe. It houses a new superconducting particle accelerator...
LCLS-II cooldown
News Feature

Over the past few years, Kathleen Ratcliffe and Tien Fak Tan have worked together to help build the superconducting accelerator that will drive new...

SLAC's Tien Tan, left, and Kathleen Ratcliffe pose for a portrait outside a SLAC building.
News Feature

From the invisible world of elementary particles to the mysteries of the cosmos, recipients of this prestigious award for early career scientists explore nature...

Panofsky fellows
Photograph
Last cryomodule unload, #41 from Fermilab F1.3-06. This one will be one of a few spares for LCLS-II. 
Last cryomodule unload, #41 from Fermilab F1.3-06. This one will be one of a few spares for LCLS-II.
Past Event

Presented by Diana Gamzina. In particle accelerators, electrons are pushed to extreme energies by electromagnetic fields that oscillate inside evacuated metal cavities. Those cavities...

illustration of woman scientist observing stacked copper discs
Public Lecture Poster
How Science Unlocks Copper's Hidden Powers
News Feature

At the Machine Shop, Pete Franco crafts beautiful, intricate and precise parts for the lab’s latest scientific tools.

Pete Franco at the SLAC Machine Shop
Press Release

FACET-II will pave the way for a future generation of particle colliders and powerful light sources, opening avenues in high-energy physics, medicine, and materials...

FACET-II