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SLAC builds and uses various kinds of lasers to do scientific research. 

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PULSE graduate student Jian Chen in a laser lab at SLAC.

News Feature

Revealed for the first time by a new X-ray laser technique, their surprisingly unruly response has profound implications for designing and controlling materials.

Illustration of laser light setting off vibrations in material
News Feature

The initiative will give scientists more access to powerful lasers at universities and labs.

MEC LaserNet
News Feature

Switches like this one, discovered with SLAC’s ultrafast ‘electron camera’, could offer a new, simple path to storing data in next-generation devices.

Single Pulse Material Switch
News Feature

In a first, researchers measure extremely small and fast changes that occur in plasma when it’s zapped with a laser. Their technique will have...

LCLS Plasma Expansion
News Feature

The annual conference for scientists who conduct research at SLAC’s light sources engaged about 470 researchers in talks, workshops and discussions.

2018 Users Conference
News Feature

Their work will deepen our understanding of matter in extreme conditions and fundamental particle physics.

Panofsky Fellows 2018
Video

This video explains how researchers at SLAC are using a method known as ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) to develop an atomic-level understanding of how...

Video
Press Release

To break, or not to break: An unprecedented atomic movie captures the moment when molecules decide how to respond to light.

UED Bond Breaking
Animation
Animation of a trifluoroiodomethane molecule (carbon shown in black, fluoride in green, iodine in pink) responding to laser light. The...
UED Bond Breaking
Press Release

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...

UED Gold Melting
Animation
This movie shows the transition of a gold sample from a solid (dotted pattern) to a liquid (ring pattern) after...
UED Gold Melting
Animation

This animation shows the results of a recent study at SLAC, in which researchers used a powerful beam of electrons to watch gold melt...

UED Gold Melting