Originally named Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory and is operated by Stanford University on behalf of the DOE. Opened in 1962, SLAC is located on 426 acres of Stanford University-owned land on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California—just west of the University's main campus.

The main accelerator is two miles long, which is the longest linear accelerator in the world. It has been operational since 1966. The SLAC research program centers on experimental and theoretical research in elementary particle physics using electron beams and a broad program of research in atomic and solid-state physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine using synchrotron radiation.