SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Primary logo
Aerial view of former linear accelerator
Established	1962; 62 years ago (1962)
Research type	Physical sciences
Budget	$383 million (2017)[1]
Field of research	Accelerator physics Photon science
Director	John L. Sarrao
Staff	1,684
Address	2575 Sand Hill Rd. Menlo Park, CA 94025
Location	Menlo Park, California, United States 37°25′03″N 122°12′09″W / 37.41750°N 122.20250°W / 37.41750; -122.20250
Campus	172 ha (426 acres)
Nickname	SLAC
Affiliations	U.S. Department of Energy
Operating agency	Stanford University
Nobel laureates	Burton Richter Richard E. Taylor Martin L. Perl
Website	slac.stanford.edu
Map
Location in California

Stanford Linear Accelerator

General properties
Accelerator type	linear accelerator
Beam type	electrons
Target type	fixed target
Beam properties
Maximum energy	50 GeV
Physical properties
Length	3.2 km (2.0 mi)
Location	Menlo Park, California
Institution	Stanford University, US-DOE
Dates of operation	1966–2006
Succeeded by	LCLS

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center,^[2][3] is a federally funded research and development center in Menlo Park, California, United States. Founded in 1962, the laboratory is now sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and administrated by Stanford University. It is the site of the Stanford Linear Accelerator, a 3.2 kilometer (2-mile) linear accelerator constructed in 1966 that could accelerate electrons to energies of 50 GeV.

Today SLAC research centers on a broad program in atomic and solid-state physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine using X-rays from synchrotron radiation and a free-electron laser as well as experimental and theoretical research in elementary particle physics, astroparticle physics, and cosmology. The laboratory is under the programmatic direction of the United States Department of Energy Office of Science.