SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

@SLAClab

Official account of the U.S. Department of @ENERGY's Silicon Valley national lab, operated by @Stanford.

Verify: stanford.io/3P2sIAy

Menlo Park, CA slac.stanford.edu Joined November 2009

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Latest posts 5

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory @SLAClab 1d

Did you see us on @CNET?

We have been busy upgrading our X-ray laser, but not so busy that we couldn’t show them a little bit of the behind-the-scenes action:

CNET Verified account @CNET 5d

Get an inside look at the world's most powerful X-ray laser at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Stanford, which scientists use to film movies of molecules.

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SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory @SLAClab 2d

A new dwarf planet candidate, a new phase of magnetism, new X-ray laser records broken and a new newsletter!

Check out all the latest news in our November edition of Signals: mailchi.mp/slac/dwarf-pla…

Creating a molecular movie of penicillin biosynthesis: Researchers used ultrafast X-ray free-electron laser pulses to capture atomic snapshots of the enzyme as it reacted with oxygen. Combining these snapshots produced a molecular movie showing how nature builds the core structure of penicillin. (Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

This image shows the orbital pathway of newly discovered dwarf planet candidate 2026 ED138 (ED138), as observed by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. This image is a composite of multiple images captured by Rubin between 4 March and 11 July 2026 at intervals indicated by the teal circles. ED138 is visible at the center of each circle. (NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA)

A 3D abstract artwork featuring two layered grids with triangular peaks. The top grid is predominantly blue, and the bottom grid is mostly red. The grids' overlapping points create a dynamic, wave-like pattern on a black background.

Inside the ICARUS detector. The detector uses liquid argon technology to detect charged particles created when a neutrino interacts inside it. (CERN)

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory @SLAClab 3d

Measuring the shortest-ever high-energy X-ray pulses!

A system of mirrors that split an X-ray beam, allowed researchers to directly measure an X-ray pulse duration of 170 attoseconds (billionths of a billionth of a second) long, & create a stopwatch for tracking electron motion!

Diagram illustrating an X-ray pulse setup with electron bunch entering an undulator. A single X-ray pulse is shown, passing through a series of mirrors labeled Mirror 1, Mirror 2, and Mirror 3, before splitting at Mirror 4 into two separate X-ray pulses. Credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory @SLAClab 4d

BaBar? 🐘

Not the cartoon elephant. Before LHCb became the world's leading detector for studying bottom and charm quarks, SLAC operated the BaBar experiment at the PEP-II collider. The detector (6m in diameter) is photographed here with staff scientist Michael Kelsey inside.

A person inspects a large, complex machine, surrounded by numerous wires and equipment. The scene is brightly lit, showing intricate engineering and advanced technology. Data gathered from particle collider experiments using the BaBar detector at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, pictured here, were analyzed to search for traces of theorized dark matter particles known as dark photons. (Credit: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory @SLAClab 5d

Happy Monday! Timing still feel a little off? ⏰

Daylight savings means you got an extra hour this weekend! But here at our LCLS X-ray laser we work in attoseconds. So that’s 3,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 (or 3.6 sextillion) attoseconds.

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