SSRL Events & Presentations

SSRL Symposium Pays Tribute to Pioneering Scientist

Mon, 2012/02/13 - 6:10am

by Lori Ann White

Last week more than 70 scientists from Europe, Japan and all over the United States came for a one-day symposium celebrating the life and work of Hirotsugu Tsuruta, a senior scientist at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource who passed away last August at the age of 49. Tsuruta, who joined SSRL in 1991, was a driving force behind the development of Beam Line 4-2 ...

Feb. 8 Photon Science Seminar: "X-rays and DFT Cross-examine Fuel Cell Catalysts"

Tue, 2012/02/07 - 6:49am

French Popular-Science Magazine Calls SLAC Research Magnifique!

Mon, 2012/01/23 - 6:55am

by Lori Ann White

The French popular-science magazine La Recherche ("Research") listed the discovery at SLAC of chemical traces of pigment in a bird fossil as a top 10 discovery in 2011. Researchers examined the remains of Confuciusornis sanctus, which lived 120 million years ago, at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource.

SLAC Teamwork Doesn't Take a Vacation

Fri, 2012/01/20 - 6:45am

by Lori Ann White

On Dec. 16, the final work day before the winter shutdown, SLAC Chief Operating Officer Sandy Merola sent an email urging everyone who could to ”take time off and enjoy the holidays." Quite a few had already taken the words to heart, turning the campus into a ghost town. Then, operators for SPEAR3, the storage ring for the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, noticed a problem ...

Seen Around SLAC: We Have Lift Off

Wed, 2012/01/18 - 6:45am

by Lori Ann White

A damaged klystron took a short flight out from the center of the SPEAR3 booster ring at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource last week, courtesy of a new, 7-ton-capacity crane.

A damaged klystron took a short flight out from the center of the SPEAR3 booster ring at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource last week, courtesy of a new, 7-ton-capacity crane.

Word of the Week: Bioremediation

Fri, 2012/01/13 - 6:30am

by Lori Ann White

Bioremediation refers to the use of natural organisms such as microbes, fungi or plants to either remove contaminants from water or soil, or turn them into less harmful forms.

Seen Around SLAC: "the House that Axel Built"

Wed, 2012/01/11 - 6:30am

by Lori Ann White

Tucked behind the control area for Beamline 9-2 at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, between an elevator and an old metal cabinet, is a plaque. The inscription reads, "The Sixth Addition to the House that Axel Built – 1994." Below that, four coins – a dime and three pennies – are set into the plaque's dark surface.

Dinosaurs, Space-shuttles and Synchrotrons

Tue, 2012/01/10 - 2:38pm

Event Series: Photon Science Seminar Event Date: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - 3:00p.m. - 4:00p.m.

SLAC Scientists Study How Nature Cleans Uranium from Colorado Aquifer

Tue, 2012/01/10 - 6:45am

by Lori Ann White

Rifle, Colorado, is a small town on the Colorado River, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, that's big on natural resources. It attracts hunters, fishermen, hikers, rock climbers.But it's a below-ground natural resource – uranium – that draws the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource's John Bargar to the area.

From the Director: Good News to Start the New Year

Fri, 2012/01/06 - 6:55am

by Persis Drell

Just before we closed for the holidays Congress passed a budget. That by itself is excellent news. Having a budget removes tremendous uncertainty for both our projects and operations, and we will not have the seesaw of drama that we had last spring with the long continuing resolution and threats of a government shutdown.

Phrase of the Week: Organic Semiconductor

Fri, 2012/01/06 - 6:30am

by Diane Rezendes Khirallah

Simply put, an organic semiconductor is an organic material whose conductivity can be switched on and off at will. This helpful property gives semiconductors a critical role in the on-off switches at the heart of digital devices.

Today: SSRL Scientist to Discuss Work with Fossils at San Francisco Exploratorium

Thu, 2012/01/05 - 6:55am

SSRL Helps Stanford Scientists Study Enhanced Organic Semiconductor

Tue, 2012/01/03 - 6:30am

by Andrew Myers

By packing molecules closer together, chemical engineers at Stanford have dramatically improved the electrical conductivity of organic semiconductors. The advance could herald flexible electronics, more efficient solar panels, and perhaps even better television screens.

Herding Electrons into Bright Bunches at SSRL

Tue, 2012/01/03 - 6:20am

by Daniel Ratner

Though the linac excels at producing tight bunches of electrons, each stretch of the linac can produce only 120 bunches of electrons per second. With researchers around the world hungry for research time at LCLS, even 120 X-ray pulses per second is not enough.

Postdoc Eric Verploegen Energized by Experiences, Mentoring at SLAC

Wed, 2011/12/07 - 6:55am

by Lori Ann White

If the excitement and enthusiasm of young scientists like Eric Verploegen could be pumped directly into the power grid, the world's energy problems could be solved tomorrow. It can't, though. So Verploegen has made it his goal to channel his energy into looking for solutions the old-fashioned way – hard work, and lots of it.

If the excitement and enthusiasm of young scientists like Eric Verploegen could be pumped directly into the power grid, the world's energy problems could be solved tomorrow.

SSRL Team Reports Sought-After Magnetic Properties in Common Alloy

Thu, 2011/11/03 - 7:10am

In a paper published Nov. 2 in Nature Communications, a team of researchers led by University of Maryland's Ichiro Takeuchi, in collaboration with Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource's Apurva Mehta, reported the discovery of large magnetostriction in an iron/cobalt alloy — in other words, the alloy shows a mechanical strain when a magnetic field is applied.