Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)

SLAC's two-mile-long linear accelerator (or linac) has begun a new phase of its career, with the creation of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).

For nearly 50 years, SLAC's linac has produced high-energy electrons for cutting-edge physics experiments. Now, scientists continue this tradition of discovery by using the linac to drive a new kind of laser, creating X-ray pulses of unprecedented brilliance.

LCLS produces pulses of X-rays more than a billion times brighter than the most powerful existing sources, the so-called synchrotron sources which are also based on large electron accelerators.