Electron diffraction/microscopy

SLAC’s high-speed ‘electron camera’ shows for the first time the coexistence of solid and liquid in laser-heated gold, providing new clues for designing materials that can withstand extreme conditions.

Tiny pores in the shells of archaea microbes attract ammonium ions that are their sole source of energy, allowing them to thrive where this food is so scarce that scientists can’t even detect it.

The National Institutes of Health center on the SLAC campus will make this revolutionary technology available to scientists nationwide and teach them how to use it to study 3D structures of biological machines and molecules.

A team including SLAC researchers has measured the intricate interactions between atomic nuclei and electrons that are key to understanding intriguing materials properties, such as high-temperature superconductivity.

The new technology could allow next-generation instruments to explore the atomic world in ever more detail.

Combining X-ray and electron data from two cutting-edge SLAC instruments, researchers make the first observation of the rapid atomic response of iron-platinum nanoparticles to light. The results could help develop ways to manipulate and control future magnetic data storage devices.

In experiments with the lab’s ultrafast "electron camera," laser light hitting a material is almost completely converted into nuclear vibrations, which are key to switching a material’s properties on and off for future electronics and other applications.

SLAC’s ultrafast “electron camera” reveals unusual atomic motions that could be crucial for the efficiency of next-generation perovskite solar cells.