SLAC topics

Energy sciences RSS feed

One of the most urgent challenges of our time is discovering how to generate the energy and products we need sustainably, without compromising the well-being of future generations by depleting limited resources or accelerating climate change. SLAC pursues this goal on many levels.

Studies of atomic-level processes

News Feature

Combined with the lab’s LCLS X-ray laser, it’ll provide unprecedented atomic views of some of nature’s speediest processes.

Alex Reid, ultrafast electron diffraction (UED)
Press Release

A new twist on cryo-EM imaging reveals what’s going on inside MOFs, highly porous nanoparticles with big potential for storing fuel, separating gases and...

Images of cryo-EM equipment, CO2 molecule in cage
News Feature

Experiments at SLAC’s X-ray laser reveal in atomic detail how two distinct liquid phases in these materials enable fast switching between glassy and crystalline...

Diagram of material switching between glassy and crystalline states
News Feature

A laser technique lets researchers see how potentially dangerous growths form in batteries.

Microscopic images of lithium metal buildup in batteries
News Feature

Both are professors at Stanford and SLAC, where Martinez is an investigator with the Stanford PULSE Institute.

Stanford and SLAC professors Todd Martinez, left, and William Weis
Press Release

First direct look at how atoms move when a ring-shaped molecule breaks apart could boost our understanding of fundamental processes of life.

Molecular Movie in HD Art
Illustration

This illustration shows snapshots of the light-triggered transition of the ring-shaped 1,3-cyclohexadiene (CHD) molecule (background) to its stretched-out 1,3,5-hexatriene (HT) form (foreground). 

Molecular Movie in HD Art
News Feature

He helped lay the groundwork for SLAC’s LCLS X-ray laser and for the institute, which was founded to explore the science LCLS would enable.

David Reis headshot
News Feature

SLAC researchers say their new method could make it easier to study interactions of ultrabright X-rays with matter

Ghost imaging illustration
News Feature

X-ray laser snapshots give scientists a new tool for probing trillionths-of-a-second atomic motions in 2-D materials

Experimental station at SLAC's LCLS X-ray laser where the study was done
News Feature

The newly launched Quantum Fundamentals, ARchitecture and Machines initiative will build upon existing strengths in theoretical and experimental quantum science and engineering at Stanford...

News Feature

Watching electrons sprint between atomically thin layers of material will shed light on the fundamental workings of semiconductors, solar cells and other key technologies.

Illustration of electrons giving off electromagnetic waves as they travel between two materials