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Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) RSS feed

The Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC, the world’s first hard X-ray free-electron laser, takes X-ray snapshots of atoms and molecules at work, revealing fundamental processes in materials, technology and living things.

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Rooftop view of Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)

Illustration

SLAC’s newly upgraded Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) successfully produced its first X-rays, creating unparalleled capabilities that will usher in...

LCLS-II first light
News Feature

X-ray laser studies help researchers identify early steps in the freezing process to better understand how clouds make ice and their effect on climate.

supercooled water droplets
News Feature

They used synthetic diamond crystals as mirrors to make X-ray pulses run laps inside a vacuum chamber, demonstrating a key process needed for future...

Two scientists in a control room full of computer monitors that allow them to adjust diamond mirrors in their CBXFEL experiment
News Feature

Leora Dresselhaus-Marais, Claudio Emma,  Bernhard Mistlberger and Johanna Nelson Weker will pursue cutting-edge research into decarbonizing steel production, theoretical physics, generating more intense particle...

This photo shows all four recipients from SLAC and Stanford of the DOE's 2023 Early Career Award
News Feature

Bringing ultrafast physics to structural biology has revealed the coordinated dance of molecules in unprecedented clarity, which could aid in the design of new...

molecular control
news collection

An upgrade to SLAC’s renowned Linac Coherent Light Source will allow it to deliver X-ray laser beams that are 10,000 times brighter with pulses that arrive up to a million times per second.

collage of LCLS-II milestones
Press Release

After decades of effort, scientists have finally seen the process by which nature creates the oxygen we breathe using SLAC’s X-ray laser.

Photosystem II
Animation

In photosystem II, the water-splitting center cycles through four stable states

Photosystem II baseball
Press Release

New SLAC-Stanford Battery Center bridges the gaps between discovering, manufacturing and deploying innovative energy storage solutions. 

Illustration showing a battery researcher at left, a battery at center and a grid of battery applications at right.
Illustration

The new SLAC-Stanford Battery Center aims to bridge the gaps between discovering, manufacturing and deploying innovative energy storage solutions. 

Illustration showing a battery researcher at left, a battery at center and a grid of battery applications at right.
News Feature

Once built, the system could produce fast X-ray pulses ten times more powerful than ever before.

illustration of an electron beam traveling through a niobium cavity – a key component of SLAC’s future LCLS-II X-ray laser.
News Feature

To invent a new tool for studying how chemicals react at interfaces, researchers shoot tiny jets of oil and water at each other and...

Rainbow colors in a sheet of layered liquids