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Matter in extreme conditions RSS feed

Under extreme conditions – like those in the hearts of planets or in exploding stars – materials can enter other exotic phases with unique characteristics. At SLAC, researchers are studying some of the most extreme and exotic forms of matter ever created, in detail never before possible.

Concept of Matter in extreme conditions

News Feature

Their work will deepen our understanding of matter in extreme conditions and fundamental particle physics.

Panofsky Fellows 2018
Press Release

SLAC’s high-speed ‘electron camera’ shows for the first time the coexistence of solid and liquid in laser-heated gold, providing new clues for designing materials...

UED Gold Melting
News Feature

Experiments at SLAC heated water from room temperature to 100,000 degrees Celsius in less than a millionth of a millionth of a second, producing...

Illustration of water molecules hit by X-ray laser
News Feature

Research with SLAC’s X-ray laser simulates what happens when a meteor hits Earth’s crust. The results suggest that scientists studying impact sites have been...

News Feature

A new way to observe this deformation as it happens can help study a wide range of phenomena, from meteor impacts to high-performance ceramics...

Image depicting an experiment at LCLS that shocks a tantalum sample
Press Release

SLAC’s X-ray laser and Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument allow researchers to examine the exotic precipitation in real time as it materializes in the...

A cutaway depicts the interior of Neptune (right) and an illustration of diamond rain (left).
News Feature

Tripling the energy and refining the shape of optical laser pulses at LCLS’s Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument allows researchers to recreate higher-pressure conditions...

Laser engineers with the upgraded Matter in Extreme Conditions optical laser
News Feature

A flash of green laser followed by pulses of X-rays, and mere nanoseconds later an extraterrestrial form of ice has formed.

News Feature

Sensitive gamma-ray “eye” on NASA’s Fermi space telescope continues to provide unprecedented views of violent phenomena in the cosmos.

Fermi in Space.
News Feature

Read about how SLAC professor Siegfried Glenzer creates extreme conditions like those in the cores of planets and studies nuclear fusion.

News Feature

SLAC celebrates five days of ultrafast science.

Press Release

Join us for five days of ultrafast science from April 17 to 21.