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

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 applications in astrophysics, medicine and fusion energy.

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

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

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

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.

Research conducted at the atomic scale could help explain how electric currents move efficiently through hybrid perovskites, promising materials for solar cells.

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.

A new way to observe this deformation as it happens can help study a wide range of phenomena, from meteor impacts to high-performance ceramics used in armor, as well as how to protect spacecraft from high-speed dust impacts.

This novel method could shrink the equipment needed to make laser pulses billionths of a billionth of a second long for studying ultra-speedy electron movements in solids, chemical reactions and future electronics.

SLAC’s X-ray laser and Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument allow researchers to examine the exotic precipitation in real time as it materializes in the laboratory.

Tripling the energy and refining the shape of optical laser pulses at LCLS’s Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument allows researchers to recreate higher-pressure conditions and explore unsolved questions relevant to fusion energy, plasma physics and materials science.