An electron, deflected by a magnetic field, emits electromagnetic waves, so-called "synchrotron light". The wavelength spectrum of this radiation depends strongly on the energy of the electron. In order to generate intensive synchrotron light with a very short wavelength one needs an accelerator producing high-energy electrons.
The SLS accelerator facility consists of three major parts: a linac, a booster and a storage ring.
The linac (short for linear accelerator) pre-accelerates electrons, which are produced in an electron source, to an intermediate energy of 100 MeV.
The booster (short for booster synchrotron), accelerates the electrons, coming from the linac, to the final energy of 2.7 GeV. After extraction from the booster the electrons are then injected into the storage ring.
In the storage ring these high energy electrons circulate for hours, generating the desired synchrotron light, which in turn is used in several beam line facilities. An ultra-high vacuum inside the beam tube is necessary to avoid losses of the electrons due to collisions with air molecules.
storage ring and booster are housed in a tunnel with concrete shielding walls. Two layers of 40 cm thick concrete beams cover the tunnel and can be removed to give a crane access to the accelerator components. The linac is located in a separate tunnel.
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