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The GSI Accelerator Facility
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GSI operates a unique heavy-ion accelerator system. At this accelerator,
it is possible to not only prepare ion beams of all the
elements, up to and including uranium—the heaviest naturally
occurring element—in any state of electric charge, but also to
accelerate these beams to nearly the speed of light. The facility
can also be used to create and accelerate beams of radioactive
nuclei.
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UNILAC - Linear Accelerator
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UNILAC—a 120-meter long linear accelerator—accelerates the
ions to 20 percent of the speed of light.
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SIS - Heavy Ion Synchrotron
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In the heavy-ion synchrotron SIS,
the ion beam is further accelerated
up to 90 percent of the speed of light in the course of
several hundred thousand revolutions.
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ESR - Experiment Storage Ring
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The previously accelerated
ions—whether stable or radioactive—
can be stored in the experimental storage ring ESR. During
this storage time, they complete several million to several
billion revolutions at a constant, high speed.
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