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Ultrafast science RSS feed

SLAC is the world’s leading center for developing “ultrafast” X-ray, laser and electron beams that allow us to see atoms and molecules moving in just millionths of a billionth of a second. We can even create stop-action movies of these tiny events.

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DOE explains...Ultrafast science

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This illustration shows how the first experiment at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser stripped away electrons from neon atoms. (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
News Release

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

lcls ii milestone
Feature

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

a graphic in the style of graphic novel depicts four lasers converging on a spherical target, which represents an inertial fusion energy reaction
Feature

The SLAC team is developing digital twins – powered by AI and high-performance computing – to help quickly shape high-quality particle beams for the...

hand pointing to digital twin
News Brief
Via Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics

Observing quantum footballs blown up by laser kicks

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

Buckyballs
News Brief

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

Schematic of a machine learning algorithm that reconstructs 3D images from X-ray data
News Brief

He was honored for his work in ultrafast physics.

Portrait of Shambhu Ghimire
Multimedia

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...

Detail of the TMO hutch at SLAC's X-ray laser
News Brief

X-rays unveil new molecular structure details that will help researchers design novel drug therapies to address antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Image of spherical bacteria
Multimedia

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...

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Danly watches a simulation of dark matter.
Past Event
Electrons are tiny, charged particles with huge jobs: They hold all matter together, they drive the chemical reactions that power life, and they transport...
A headshot of Taran Driver next to the SLAC on Tap logo with the words "Home brewed science" surrounding the logo
Multimedia

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

Complex scientific machinery with metal components
Feature

They used SLAC’s ultrafast X-ray laser to follow the impact of a single electron moving within a molecule during an entire chemical reaction.

An illustration of X-rays scattering off the valence electrons surrounding ammonia molecules and getting captured on a detector.