SLAC topics

Lasers RSS feed

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

See related articles below.

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

News Feature

An experiment at SLAC’s X-ray laser provides new insight into the ultrafast motions of a muscle protein in a basic biochemical reaction.

Computerized rendering of 3-D structure of myoglobin. The jagged green line represents a pulse of la
News Feature

Researchers use X-ray laser at SLAC to track light-triggered chemical reactions in a molecule that serves as a simple model for the conversion of...

IMAGE - Artistic rendering of a molecule severed by laser light, with a separate molecule (bottom right) from a solvent rushing in to bond with the just-split molecule. (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
Press Release

Scientists have used an X-ray laser at SLAC to get the first glimpse of the transition state where two atoms begin to form a...

Illustration of a transition state in a chemical reaction.
Press Release

Technique Could Allow Study of Viral Infections, Cell Division and Photosynthesis in New Detail

A pond containing a visible bloom of cyanobacteria, with an artistic rendering of an individual cell
News Feature

Scientists have assembled an exotic toolbox for experiments that tap into the brightest X-rays on the planet.

Image - This illustration shows a cutaway view of a type of sample system used at the Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser that jets samples in a superthin liquid or gel stream into its X-ray pulses. This system is known as a gas dynamic virtual nozzle

In this lecture, SLAC’s Ryan Coffee explains how researchers are beginning to use pattern recognition and machine learning to study chemical reactions at the...

News Feature

From 'Hollow' Atoms to Structures Inside Living Cells, SLAC's Laser Continues to Explore Science at the Extremes

This illustration shows how the first experiment at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser stripped away electrons from neon atoms. (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
News Feature

Zhirong Huang, Bill Fawley and Erik Hemsing Honored at Annual Free-electron Laser Conference

Image - From left, SLAC's Erik Hemsing, Zhirong Huang and William Fawley accept awards during the 36th International Free Electron Laser Conference in Basel, Switzerland. At right is SLAC's Paul Emma, who served as this year's FEL Prize committee chairman
News Feature

Experiment at SLAC's X-ray Laser Opens Door to Exploring Cell Interiors

Image - These micrograph images show rod-shaped bacterial cells suspended in pure water. The dark rectangular shapes inside the cells correspond to naturally occurring crystals within the cells.
News Feature

Laser-timing Tool Works at the Speed of Electrons

Image - An illustration of the setup used to test an "attosecond" timing tool at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser. The dashed line represents the arrival time of the X-ray laser.
News Feature

SLAC Experiment Provides New Insight About How Electrons Move Across Molecules

Researchers used SLAC's LCLS X-ray laser to stimulate and measure the electron-transfer process inside a severed methyl iodide molecule.
News Feature

Grad Students and Postdocs Get a Crash Course in Using X-ray Lasers

Archana Raja, a graduate student at Columbia University, explains her group’s poster presentation at SLAC’s Ultrafast X-ray Summer Seminar.