X-ray scattering and diffraction

Scientists used SLAC's LCLS X-ray laser to make the first snapshots of a chemical interaction between two biomolecules. It changes the shape of millions of molecular switches almost instantaneously, like synchronized swimmers performing the same move.

The team determined the 3-D structure of a biomolecule by tagging it with selenium atoms and taking hundreds of thousands of images.

Understanding how a material’s electrons interact with vibrations of its nuclear lattice could help design and control novel materials, from solar cells to high-temperature superconductors.

High-speed X-ray camera reveals ultrafast atomic motions at the root of organisms’ ability to turn light into biological function.

Computer simulations and lab experiments help researchers understand the violent universe and could potentially lead to new technologies that benefit humankind.

Contributions to LIGO have come from many Stanford teams, including SLAC, Applied Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Aeronautics and Astronautics and the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences.

This surprising finding has potentially broad implications, from X-ray imaging of single particles to fusion research.

A physicist at Argonne National Laboratory has been recognized for pioneering experiments at SLAC that helped establish a new way to study the structure of complex materials.

This animation explains how researchers use high-energy electrons at SLAC to study faster-than-ever motions of atoms and molecules relevant to important material properties and chemical processes.

A new design tested in experiments at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory could improve plastic solar panel materials.

Scientists for the first time tracked ultrafast structural changes, captured in quadrillionths-of-a-second steps, as ring-shaped gas molecules burst open and unraveled.

An experiment at SLAC’s X-ray laser provides new insight into the ultrafast motions of a muscle protein in a basic biochemical reaction.