Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
An accelerator in which two beams of ions or polarized protons are
brought into collision, in as many as six locations, in order to
study the state of matter formed in the first microseconds of the
Universe and to study the spin structure of the proton.
Alternating Gradient Synchrotron
The AGS is the final stage of the accelerator injector chain which
accepts beam from the Booster and then accelerates ions and
polarized protons to the minimum RHIC energy. The AGS then injects
the beam into the two accelerator rings that comprise RHIC.
The Booster accepts ions from the Tandem Van de Graaffs and protons
from the LINAC, which then accelerates the beam to the minimum AGS
energy before injecting the beam into the AGS. The Booster supplies
beam to the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL).
Tandem Van de Graaff
The Tandem Van de Graaff electrostatic accelerators are the sources
of ions for the RHIC accelerator injector chain, starting with the
Booster. Also used to supply ions for radiation testing of
electronic components and for manufacturing of industrial items.
A linear accelerator, fed by two smaller accelerators, supplies
beams of protons and polarized protons for the RHIC injector system,
the Booster for NSRL, and the production of medical isotopes at the
Brookhaven Linac Isotope Producer (BLIP) facility.