CERN: Lead time

One of the highlights of CERN's ongoing research programme is the Heavy Ion Facility developed by an international collaboration between CERN (infrastructure and 200 MHz RF), France (source), Germany (the Linac and 100 MHz RF), Italy (RFQ and low energy, stripper and filter beam lines), India (software and some vacuum equipment), Sweden and Switzerland. In the years to come, its beams will extend to still heavier ions the programme which began at CERN in the early 1980s in collaboration with Berkely and GSI Darmstadt and led to a series of studies at the SPS synchrotron using first oxygen and then sulphur nuclei