Topic: LCLS Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) | SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

News Brief

SLAC will partner in two collaborations that aim to speed up progress in fusion energy science and technology.

Laser engineer Eric Cunningham with the Matter in Extreme Conditions optical laser

Feature

New research has implications for understanding Earth's evolution, interpreting unusual seismic signals and the study of exoplanets.

Illustration

Deep inside rocky planets like Earth, the behavior of iron can greatly affect the properties of molten rock materials: properties that influenced how Earth...

News Release

With up to a million X-ray flashes per second, 8,000 times more than its predecessor, it transforms the ability of scientists to explore atomic-scale...

Illustration

Illustration of how a single crystal sample of silicon deforms during shock compression on nanosecond timescales.

Feature

They saw how the material finds a path to contorting and flexing to avoid being irreversibly crushed.

Photograph

Facilities at SLAC with SPEAR3 at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) to the left and Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) hutch to the right.

Photograph

Chandra Curry at the Matter in Extreme Conditions experimental hutch 6 at LCLS.

News Release

Studying a material that even more closely resembles the composition of ice giants, researchers found that oxygen boosts the formation of diamond rain.

Feature

Researchers mimicked these extreme impacts in the lab and discovered new details about how they transform minerals in Earth’s crust.

Feature

Through her work with this nationwide program, Curry plans to make high-power laser facilities more accessible to researchers.

Feature

New observations of the atomic structure of iron reveal it undergoes "twinning" under extreme stress and pressure.

illustration of a hammer hitting the Earth's iron core

LCLS Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC)

SLAC brings rapid-fire laser and target expertise to national fusion energy research hubs

Researchers probe molten rock to crack Earth’s deepest secrets

Extreme conditions in molten rock materials

SLAC fires up the world’s most powerful X-ray laser: LCLS-II ushers in a new era of science

MEC silicon

Researchers resolve decades-long debate about shock-compressed silicon with unprecedented detail

Facilities and centers at SLAC

Chandra Curry working in the MEC hutch

‘Diamond rain’ on giant icy planets could be more common than previously thought

‘Fingerprinting’ minerals to better understand how they are affected by meteorite collisions

Laser-focused: Chandra Breanne Curry appointed first LaserNetUS coordinator

Researchers recreate deep-Earth conditions to see how iron copes with extreme stress

SLAC brings rapid-fire laser and target expertise to national fusion energy research hubs

Researchers probe molten rock to crack Earth’s deepest secrets

Extreme conditions in molten rock materials

SLAC fires up the world’s most powerful X-ray laser: LCLS-II ushers in a new era of science

MEC silicon

Researchers resolve decades-long debate about shock-compressed silicon with unprecedented detail

Facilities and centers at SLAC

Chandra Curry working in the MEC hutch

‘Diamond rain’ on giant icy planets could be more common than previously thought

‘Fingerprinting’ minerals to better understand how they are affected by meteorite collisions

Laser-focused: Chandra Breanne Curry appointed first LaserNetUS coordinator

Researchers recreate deep-Earth conditions to see how iron copes with extreme stress