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Accelerators form the backbone of SLAC’s national user facilities. They generate some of the highest quality particle beams in the world, helping thousands of scientists perform groundbreaking experiments each year.

Linac towards SLAC campus

Photograph

Aalayah Spencer

Aalayah Spencer inside the Linac Coherent Light Source at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

February 13, 2023
Aalayah Spencer inside the Linac Coherent Light Source at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Spencer is a science and engineering associate in Experiment Control Systems at LCLS.
News Feature

A day in the life of an experiment controls engineer

By tinkering and troubleshooting, Aalayah Spencer helps turn researchers’ ideas into state-of-the-art science experiments.

February 13, 2023  ·  4 min read
Aalayah Spencer inside the Linac Coherent Light Source at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Spencer is a science and engineering associate in Experiment Control Systems at LCLS.
News Feature

Researchers can ‘see’ crystals perform their dance moves

Experiments visualize how 2D perovskite structures change when excited.

February 8, 2023  ·  4 min read
MeV-UED
News Feature

GEM Fellowship aims to increase representation in STEM

Two GEM Fellows reflect on their summer internships at SLAC and share their thoughts on representation and mentorship.

November 4, 2022  ·  3 min read
Nate Keyes and Zariq George
Illustration

MEC silicon

Illustration of how a single crystal sample of silicon deforms during shock compression on nanosecond timescales.

October 13, 2022
MEC silicon
News Feature

Researchers resolve decades-long debate about shock-compressed silicon with unprecedented detail

They saw how the material finds a path to contorting and flexing to avoid being irreversibly crushed.

October 13, 2022  ·  5 min read
MEC silicon
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Accelerator control room

Visitors to SLAC tour the accelerator control room during Community Day 2019.
October 3, 2022
Visitors to SLAC tour the accelerator control room during Community Day 2019
Illustration

XLEAP 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...

September 27, 2022
XLEAP illustration
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SLAC's FACET-II test facility

A look inside SLAC’s FACET-II test facility, where scientists use electron beams to advance revolutionary technologies that could make future particle accelerators much smaller...

September 26, 2022
A look inside SLAC’s FACET-II test facility.
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Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests (FACET-II)

Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests (FACET-II).
September 25, 2022
Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests (FACET-II)
News Feature

Vintage SLAC accelerator software spreads its wings

SLAC works with two small businesses to make its ACE3P software easier to use in supercomputer simulations for optimizing the shapes of accelerator structures.

August 29, 2022  ·  8 min read
A large, complex shape is seen against a blue background crisscrossed with white lines. The shape is dark blue and resembles a brick partially topped with a thick shark’s fin. Three areas of bright red, orange and green, are on the shape’s bottom edge.
Illustration

SLAC’s vintage ACE3P software

With help from two small businesses, SLAC’s vintage ACE3P software is spreading its wings to make supercomputing easier and faster.

August 22, 2022
A large, complex shape is seen against a blue background crisscrossed with white lines. The shape is dark blue and resembles a brick partially topped with a thick shark’s fin. Three areas of bright red, orange and green, are on the shape’s bottom edge.
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