SLAC’s superconducting X-ray laser reaches operating temperature colder than outer space
The facility, LCLS-II, will soon sharpen our view of how nature works on ultrasmall, ultrafast scales, impacting everything from quantum devices to clean energy.
What drives rechargeable battery decay? Depends how many times you’ve charged it
It depends on how many times you’ve charged it. A new study looks at the ways the particles that make up a rechargeable battery electrode work together to prolong or degrade battery life.
How a soil microbe could rev up artificial photosynthesis
Researchers discovered that a spot of molecular glue and a timely twist help a bacterial enzyme convert carbon dioxide into carbon compounds 20 times faster than plant enzymes do during photosynthesis. The results stand to accelerate progress toward converting carbon dioxide into a variety of products.
A cellphone-sized device that adjusts a home's power use up or down to save money and increase the resiliency of the electric grid will be tested in hundreds of homes over the next two years.
A new way to shape a material’s atomic structure with ultrafast laser light
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 the properties of materials.
Over the past few years, Kathleen Ratcliffe and Tien Fak Tan have worked together to help build the superconducting accelerator that will drive new scientific discoveries at SLAC’s X-ray laser.
First realistic portraits of squishy layer that’s key to battery performance
Cryo-EM snapshots of the solid-electrolyte interphase, or SEI, reveal its natural swollen state and offer a new approach to lithium-metal battery design.
This month marks the 30-year anniversary of the first website in North America, launched at SLAC. In this Q&A, one of the Wizards recalls the motivation that spawned the development and how it has changed the work of scientists.
