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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.

DOE explains...Ultrafast science

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)

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The leaders of SLAC's Technology Innovation Directorate discuss how their group supports the lab's most innovative projects.

TID senior managers
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A laser compressing an aluminum crystal provides a clearer view of a material’s plastic deformation, potentially leading to the design of stronger nuclear fusion...

an abstract illustration of rippling waves made of shining dots
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Researchers mimicked these extreme impacts in the lab and discovered new details about how they transform minerals in Earth’s crust.

meteor
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X-ray laser experiments show that intense light distorts the structure of a thermoelectric material in a unique way, opening a new avenue for controlling...

Illustration shows two ball-and-stick molecules in pink and red separated by a blurred streak representing how the first structure is slightly deformed into the second.
Illustration
Illustration shows two ball-and-stick molecules in pink and red separated by a blurred streak representing how the first structure is slightly deformed into the second.
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Less than a millionth of a billionth of a second long, attosecond X-ray pulses allow researchers to peer deep inside molecules and follow electrons...

Illustration of attosecond coherent electron motions.
News Feature

The ePix series of detectors is designed to keep pace with ever more demanding experiments at SLAC and elsewhere.

SLAC’s Chris Kenney holds a 16-module
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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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New observations of the atomic structure of iron reveal it undergoes "twinning" under extreme stress and pressure.

illustration of a hammer hitting the Earth's iron core
News Feature

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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The results could lead to a better understanding of reactions with vital roles in chemistry and biology.

UED conformers