SLAC’s campus looking south with Interstate 280 in the distance. (Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

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The 3,200-megapixel LSST Camera is being tested inside the clean room at SLAC. The camera is the central component of the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. (Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

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Sunrise timelapse of SSRL (Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource) (Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

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Aerial view of SLAC’s  campus. Stanford campus and Hoover tower can be seen in the distance. (Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

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SLAC’s research yard in the foreground, with the LINAC stretching 2 miles to the west, and SLAC’s campus on the right. (Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

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We explore how the universe works at the biggest, smallest and fastest scales and invent powerful tools used by scientists around the globe. Our research helps solve real-world problems and advances the interests of the nation.

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Physics of the universe

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Building smaller, faster, more powerful accelerators for all
 

Science of life

Understanding the machinery of life at its most basic level
 

New technologies

Inventing new tools for science and society
 

Energy sciences

Finding clean, sustainable solutions for the world’s energy challenges

LATEST UPDATES

SLAC news center

News Feature

Humans in the loop: How accelerator operators are partnering with AI

Researchers aim to refine control room tools, improve training and pave the way for smarter cooperation between humans and machines by studying how operators think and act under pressure.

Human in the loop
News Feature

Symposium celebrates Claudio Pellegrini, pioneer of SLAC’s X-ray laser

Leading researchers met at SLAC on Pellegrini’s 90th birthday to honor his ongoing scientific legacy and to explore the future of X-ray free-electron laser...

May 23, 2025  ·  9 min read
An image of Claudio Pellegrini beside a schematic showing magnets in orange and an electron beam in green creating a blue beam of X-rays.
News Feature

A new approach allows researchers to catch a photocatalyst in action

Using SLAC’s X-ray laser, the method revealed atomic motions in a simple catalyst, opening the door to study more complex molecules key to chemical...

May 22, 2025  ·  3 min read
Three molecules on a streaky red and blue background.
News Feature

Researchers find a potential treatment for mitochondrial damage that causes disease

Oxidizing chemicals break this cellular power plant into useless bits, leading to  Parkinson’s disease, ALS, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and more. A small molecule...

May 21, 2025  ·  6 min read
Purple dots arranged in bunches.
News Feature

Symposium celebrates Claudio Pellegrini, pioneer of SLAC’s X-ray laser

Leading researchers met at SLAC on Pellegrini’s 90th birthday to honor his ongoing scientific legacy and to explore the future of X-ray free-electron laser...

May 23, 2025  ·  9 min read
An image of Claudio Pellegrini beside a schematic showing magnets in orange and an electron beam in green creating a blue beam of X-rays.
News Feature

A new approach allows researchers to catch a photocatalyst in action

Using SLAC’s X-ray laser, the method revealed atomic motions in a simple catalyst, opening the door to study more complex molecules key to chemical...

May 22, 2025  ·  3 min read
Three molecules on a streaky red and blue background.
News Feature

Researchers find a potential treatment for mitochondrial damage that causes disease

Oxidizing chemicals break this cellular power plant into useless bits, leading to  Parkinson’s disease, ALS, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and more. A small molecule...

May 21, 2025  ·  6 min read
Purple dots arranged in bunches.
News Feature

Ready, Set, Process: Preparing for Rubin Observatory's Data Deluge

A look inside the data processing infrastructure built by the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory to handle the Universe’s greatest data challenge.

May 15, 2025  ·  8 min read
Computer code, circles and data overlaid on an image of a red-orange nebula.
News Feature
VIA Rubin Observatory

NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Will Unlock New Understanding of Variable Stars

Rubin will observe more variable stars than ever before, enabling investigations into what drives their variation and mapping the outer limits of our galaxy.

May 14, 2025
An illustration of computers monitoring the output of a large telescope.
News Feature

What will it take to bring fusion energy to the US power grid?

In this Q&A, Arianna Gleason discusses the technologies needed to make commercialized fusion energy a reality and how SLAC is advancing this energy frontier. 

May 7, 2025  ·  7 min read
Headshot of Arianna Gleason with graphic representation of a laser shot
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SLAC EVENTS

What’s happening

Upcoming Event
Seminars and conferences

Driving Critical Chemical Transformations with Photons, Electrons, and Catalysts

SLAC is hosting a workshop Driving critical chemical transformations with photons, electrons, and catalysts. The workshop will identify key approaches and opportunities to...
Date Monday, June 16, 2025  –  Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Driving Critical Chemical Transformations with Photons, Electrons, and Catalysts
Jun 16–17
Upcoming Event
Seminars and conferences

Mastering Materials Durability for Next-Generation Energy Technologies

Please join us for a workshop being hosted as part of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s X-ray and Ultrafast Strategic Initiative. The workshop is focused...
Date Wednesday, June 25, 2025  –  Thursday, June 26, 2025
Mastering Materials Durability for Next-Generation Energy Technologies
Jun 25–26
WHERE RESEARCH HAPPENS

Facilities & centers

At our large-scale facilities and specialized centers, scientists take advantage of powerful tools and unique expertise and collaborate with each other across a wide range of disciplines. Working together is what makes science tick.

Scientific facilities Joint institutes & centers

Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) at sunset
SLAC’s Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) provides extremely bright X-rays that scientists use in a wide range of research to probe matter on the scale of atoms and molecules. (Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
The linac with Interstate 280 bridge and Stanford University in the distance.
The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world’s first hard X-ray free-electron laser, allows researchers to make stop-action movies of chemistry in action and explore proteins for new pharmaceuticals. (Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
FACET-II provides high-energy electron beams for researching revolutionary particle accelerator technologies
FACET-II provides high-energy electron beams for researching revolutionary particle accelerator technologies that could make future accelerators 100 to 1,000 times smaller and a lot more capable. (Peter Ginter/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
The Stanford-SLAC cryo-EM facility gives scientists unprecedented views of the inner workings of the cell and of technologies like batteries and solar cells.
The Stanford-SLAC CryoEM center gives scientists unprecedented views of the inner workings of the cell and of technologies like batteries and solar cells. (Andy Freeberg/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
MEET OUR TEAMS

SLAC people

To achieve our ambitious goals and keep SLAC a great place to work, the lab needs a creative, diverse and united workforce – people with a wide variety of experiences, ideas, skills and backgrounds.

Members of the MEC-Upgrade Project tri-lab collaboration on the roof patio of LCLS.
Members of the MEC Upgrade Project tri-lab collaboration on the roof patio of LCLS. (Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
SLAC employees participated in the first campus pride parade, 2022.
SLAC employees participated in the first onsite Pride Parade on June 29, 2022. (Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
Anna Rosa Ziefuss, Chris Crissman, Dr. Siegfried Glenzer, Griffin Glenn, and Zhijiang Chen at LCLS's laser lab.
Anna Rosa Ziefuss, Chris Crissman, Dr. Siegfried Glenzer, Griffin Glenn, and Zhijiang Chen at the HEDS (High Energy Density Science) Sector 10 Laser Lab. (Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
Jeney Wierman of SLAC’s Structural Molecular Biology team
Jeney Wierman stands in the control room of SSRL. She, along with other members of the Structural Molecular Biology team, supports three beamlines, 12-1, 12-2 and 9-2, which are dedicated to helping research from all over the world, creating 3D atomic-resolution shapes of various SARS-CoV-2 related proteins. (Linda McCulloch/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
The TMO Control Room 1.1 located in the Near Experimental Hall at LCLS
From left, Project Scientist Dr. Razib Obaid, Staff Scientist Ming-Fu Lin, Associate Scientist Taran Driver and Doctoral Student Erik Isele work in the TMO Control Room 1.1, located in the Near Experimental Hall at LCLS. (Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
Work with usLife at SLAC

SLAC is a vibrant community of diverse perspectives and expertise, all working together to solve some of the most pressing challenges of our times."

John Sarrao Lab Director Headshot of John Sarrao
About SLAC video still frame
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SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is a Department of Energy national lab run by Stanford in the heart of Silicon Valley. We invent scientific tools to explore the universe at its biggest, its smallest and its fastest. (Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
DIG DEEPER

Explore SLAC

PUBLIC TOURS

Take a tour of SLAC

SLAC Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) accelerator tunnel.
THE BASICS

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Physicist checking experimental equipment at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL).
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Resources

For facility users

Scientist Dorian Bohler in control room

For industry partners

SLAC/Stanford Professor Zhi-Xun Shen and SLAC staff scientist Patrick Kirchmann

For media

atoms forming a tentative bond

For job seekers

Our first interns in the inaugural mechanical engineering internship program at SLAC, 2019

For SLAC staff

Using X-rays from SSRL, Chuntian Cao maps silicon as it cycles within a battery

For students & educators

SLAC welcomed the Science in the City summer camp in July, 2022 where students aged 10-12 from underrepresented groups did experiments and presented their work at the end of the week.