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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)

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A special issue of a physics publication highlights the contributions of SLAC's X-ray laser and the few similar lasers around the globe in probing...

Cover art for "Frontiers of free-electron laser scien...
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Crews will install a powerful new instrument, start assembling a new "self-seeding" system that will focus soft X-ray laser pulses into a bright, narrow...

Photo - Component for a high-power laser upgrade at t...
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In a new state-of-the-art lab at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, components of ribosomes – tiny biological machines that make new proteins and play a...

Photo - Hasan Demirci, a visiting investigator from B...
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A high-energy SLAC laser that creates shock waves and superhot plasmas needs to cool for about 10 minutes between shots. In the meantime, the...

Photo - This equipment is used to quickly move a mirror in or out of the path of X-rays at LCLS to switch them to different experiments. (Matt Beardsley)
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A new tool at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source splits individual X-ray laser pulses into two pulses that can hit a target one right...

Photo - The assembly team for the split-and-delay sys...
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It all comes down to one tiny spot on a diamond-cut, highly pure copper plate.

Photo - SLAC's Sasha Gilevich, middle, works on laser...
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A new screening program will allow researchers to quickly confirm whether precious biological samples yield useful information when struck by the intense X-ray pulses...

Photo - Marc Messerschmidt, a staff scientist who leads the Protein Crystal Screening Program at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray laser, works at the Coherent X-ray Imaging (CXI) experimental station. (Matt Beardsley)
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A tool developed half a century ago for sorting subatomic particles has been redesigned to measure X-ray laser pulses at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light...

Patrick Krejcik and Yuantao Ding, a staff scientist and lead researcher on the XTCAV project
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John Hill watched with eager anticipation as controllers ramped up the power systems driving SLAC's X-ray laser in an attempt to achieve the record...

Photo - Linear accelerator tunnel at SLAC. (SLAC Multimedia Communications)
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It's no surprise that the data systems for SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser have drawn heavily on the expertise of the particle...

Photo - Amedeo Perazzo.
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video still frame of Amedeo Perazzo
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Pushing gold exploration to the nanoscale, scientists used SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser to produce a series of 3-D images that detail...

Image - 3-D rendering of a gold nanocrystal, with are...