New upgrade will supercharge atomic vision of the world’s most powerful X-ray laser

The Department of Energy (DOE) has given the green light for construction to begin on a high-energy upgrade that will further boost the performance of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world’s most powerful X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) at the DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. When complete, the upgrade will allow scientists to explore atomic-scale processes with unprecedented precision and address fundamental questions in energy storage, catalysis, biology, materials science and quantum physics like never before.

SLAC fires up the world’s most powerful X-ray laser: LCLS-II ushers in a new era of science

The newly upgraded Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory successfully produced its first X-rays, and researchers around the world are already lined up to kick off an ambitious science program. 

SLAC expands and centralizes computing infrastructure to prepare for data challenges of the future

A computing facility at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is doubling in size, preparing the lab for new scientific endeavors that promise to revolutionize our understanding of the world from atomic to cosmic scales but also require handling unprecedented data streams.

SLAC’s superconducting X-ray laser reaches operating temperature colder than outer space

Nestled 30 feet underground in Menlo Park, California, a half-mile-long stretch of tunnel is now colder than most of the universe. It houses a new superconducting particle accelerator, part of an upgrade project to the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.