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LCLS Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) RSS feed

The LCLS beam with its high peak brightness, short pulse duration, and tunable X-ray photon energy provides revolutionary capabilities to study the transient behavior of matter in extreme conditions. The particular strength of the Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) instrument is to combine the unique LCLS beam with high power optical laser beams, and a suite of dedicated diagnostics tailored for this field of science.

Scientists prepare for an experiment in the Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) chamber.

News Feature

Siegfried Glenzer's team and collaborators from Tel Aviv University are working on a method that could make proton accelerators 100 times smaller without giving...

Glenzer-LaserProtonAcceleration
News Feature

Chemist Ben Ofori-Okai investigates what happens to matter under extreme conditions at microscopic scales to better understand its behavior at massive scales, such as...

Ben Ofori-Okai
News Feature

In the decade since LCLS produced its first light, it has pushed boundaries in countless areas of discovery.

Undulator Hall
News Feature

Researchers used a unique approach to learn more about what happens to silicon under intense pressure.

silicon waves
News Feature

The initiative will give scientists more access to powerful lasers at universities and labs.

MEC LaserNet
News Feature

In a first, researchers measure extremely small and fast changes that occur in plasma when it’s zapped with a laser. Their technique will have...

LCLS Plasma Expansion
News Feature

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

Panofsky Fellows 2018
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
Photograph
Highly reflective mirrors and telescope lenses in the Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) optical laser system are carefully positioned to...
Highly reflective mirrors and telescope lenses in the Matter in Extreme Conditions optical laser system