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X-ray studies at SLAC facilities help scientists understand the fundamental workings of nature by probing matter in atomic detail.

atoms forming a tentative bond
Multimedia

Now 10,000 times brighter and thousands of times faster, LCLS sheds light on the formation of free radicals in nature. 

a closeup of the target chamber of the RIXS experimental hutch
News Feature

The upgrades to SSRL’s resonant soft X-ray scattering beam line could reveal the hidden physics in high-temperature superconductors.

A gold beam strikes a sample inside a copper colored apparatus. A white beam emerges.
News Brief

SLAC researchers drew on advanced computation and X-ray methods to track down a water-splitting copper catalyst.

Illustration of X-ray beam interacting with the catalyst surface.
News Brief

The team watched how a strained strontium titanate membrane crossed into ferroelectric – and quantum – territory. 

A gold beam bounces off an atomic lattice made of red and blue spheres.
News Feature

Using SLAC’s X-ray laser, the method revealed atomic motions in a simple catalyst, opening the door to study more complex molecules key to chemical...

Three molecules on a streaky red and blue background.
News Feature

Advanced imaging technique reveals catalyst degradation processes, addressing a key barrier to converting carbon dioxide into liquid fuel.

Walter Drisdell and Aidan Coffey of Berkeley Lab’s Chemical Sciences Division at Berkeley Lab’s LiSA research facility adjusting a pump that flows liquid through the electrochemical cell
News Brief

The new findings highlight the need for ongoing monitoring of H5N1’s evolution in nature. 

Chickens in a grassy field
News Feature

Following a boom in catalysis users at SSRL, Beam Line 10-2 has been transformed and outfitted with new technologies. 

Beam Line 10-2 hutch
News Feature

The microelectronics that power daily life and speed discoveries in science and technology are the focus of a bold new vision to make them...

photo of detector
News Brief

A SLAC study shows a process called atomic relaxation offers a new way to explore quantum states in these puzzling materials.

Light blue wavy lines on a maroon red background.
News Feature

Researchers across the lab are developing AI tools to harness data and particle beams in real time and make molecular movies, speeding up the...

Graphic of AI in several science areas
News Brief

SLAC’s SSRL helps pin down key players in the microbial production of methylmercury, a poison that can accumulate in fish.

A school of fish.