Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)

Particle accelerators are some of the most complicated machines in science.

Physicist Tor Raubenheimer explores the world by climbing rocks and designing particle accelerators.

Experiments at SLAC’s X-ray laser reveal in atomic detail how two distinct liquid phases in these materials enable fast switching between glassy and crystalline states that represent 0s and 1s in memory devices.

Its electron beams will drive the generation of up to a million ultrabright X-ray flashes per second.

SLAC’s ‘electron camera’ films rapidly melting tungsten and reveals atomic-level material behavior that could impact the design of future reactors.

Researchers produced an underwater sound with an intensity that eclipses that of a rocket launch while investigating what happens when they blast tiny jets of water with X-ray laser pulses.

A better understanding of how these receptors work could enable scientists to design better therapeutics for sleep disorders, cancer and Type 2 diabetes.

A new method could be used to look at chemical reactions that other techniques can’t catch, for instance in catalysis, photovoltaics, peptide and combustion research.

More than 300 gathered for a day-long symposium to celebrate the history and future of the pioneering X-ray laser.

In SLAC’s accelerator control room, shift lead Ben Ripman and a team of operators fine-tune X-ray beams for science experiments around the clock.

First direct look at how atoms move when a ring-shaped molecule breaks apart could boost our understanding of fundamental processes of life.

In the decade since LCLS produced its first light, it has pushed boundaries in countless areas of discovery.