Booster Accelerator

Construction of the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) Booster was begun in 1986 and completed in 1991. The Booster is less than one quarter the size of the AGS.  It is used to preaccelerate particles entering the AGS ring, increasing the intensity of the proton beams generated by the AGS. 

The Booster also plays an important role in the operation of the Relatavistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) by accepting heavy ions from the Tandem Van de Graaff facility via the Tandem-to-Booster beamline (TtB).  It then feeds them to the AGS for further acceleration and delivery to RHIC. After the installation of the HITL in 1986, the AGS was capable of accelerating ions up to silicon with its atomic mass of 28.  However, due to its superior vacuum, the Booster makes it possible for the AGS to accelerate and deliver heavy ions up to gold with its atomic mass of 197. The Booster also serves as the energetic heavy ion source for the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory. This facility is operated by the Collider-Accelerator Department.

Last Modified: January 31, 2008

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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