Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)

Water is all around us, yet its surface layer is surprisingly hard to study. Experiments at SLAC’s X-ray laser are bringing it into focus.

Experiments running at these higher pulse rates will allow scientists to capture ultrafast processes with greater precision, collect data more efficiently and explore phenomena that were previously out of reach.

Researchers at SLAC are developing experimental techniques to evaluate new candidates for inertial fusion energy targets. 

The SLAC team is developing digital twins – powered by AI and high-performance computing – to help quickly shape high-quality particle beams for the lab’s X-ray and ultrafast facilities.

Laser-driven break up of "buckyballs" is recorded in real-time by X-ray imaging at LCLS. 

A new machine learning algorithm rapidly reconstructs 3D images from X-ray data. 

SLAC and Stanford partner with Argonne National Laboratory and others toward a quantum-interconnected world.

After a major upgrade, SLAC's X-ray free-electron laser is 10,000 times brighter and thousands of times faster. Now, researchers are using LCLS to observe electrons in real time as they move across molecules.

21-26 September 2025 at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

His visit highlighted the breadth of our world-class research and the people and collaborations that make it possible. A key theme of the day: how SLAC and the National Labs are advancing AI to accelerate discovery.

Researchers used LCLS to capture the ultrafast motion of electrons inside molecules – at scales never before possible.