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SLAC builds and uses various kinds of lasers to do scientific research. 

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PULSE graduate student Jian Chen in a laser lab at SLAC.

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Scientists discover that triggering superconductivity with a flash of light involves the same fundamental physics that are at work in the more stable states...

Exposing the material to a magnetic field
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Through her work with this nationwide program, Curry plans to make high-power laser facilities more accessible to researchers.

Chandra Breanne Curry
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A better understanding of this process could inform the next generation of artificial photosynthetic systems that produce clean and renewable energy.

water droplets on plant
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Topological insulators conduct electricity on their surfaces but not through their interiors. SLAC scientists discovered that high harmonic generation produces a unique signature from...

A counterclockwise pattern of swirling arrows This pattern of arrows representing the combined spin and momentum of electrons in the surface layer of a topological insulator
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High-power lasers will work in concert with the lab’s X-ray laser to dramatically improve our understanding of matter in extreme conditions.

diamond rain
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This is the first direct observation of a hydroxyl-hydronium complex – important for a wide range of chemical and biological processes from the tails...

ued ionized water
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The results have important implications for today’s TV and display screens and for future technologies where light takes the place of electrons and fluids.

Illustration of three quantum dot nanocrystals showing atomic-level changes when they are hit with laser light
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This new understanding could aid the development of more efficient clean energy sources.

electron transfer
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Scientists get dramatically better resolution at X-ray free-electron lasers with a new technique.

timingjitter
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Just as pressing a guitar string produces a higher pitch, sending laser light through a material can shift it to higher energies and higher...

High harmonic generation in a topological insulator.
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These fleeting disruptions, seen for the first time in lead hybrid perovskites, may help explain why these materials are exceptionally good at turning sunlight...

An illustration shows polarons as bubbles of distortion in a perovskite lattice
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The results, which show that ultrafast atomic motions are the first step in forming a magnetic state, could lead to faster and more efficient...

Charge transfer