1964

The first experiments

On 25 February 1964, physicists in Germany sent the first particles through the electron synchrotron DESY. The original DESY accelerator, it gave the centre itself its name.

The actual experiments were not to be found in the accelerator ring itself, but rather in adjacent experiment halls. There, the particles were collided in bubble chambers and from these collisions, photographs were made. Experiments with the synchrotron radiation generated by the accelerated particles also took place at this time.

The experiments ran until 1978, but the synchrotron itself did not go out of service. It runs to this very day – having undergone several rebuilds in the meantime – as a preaccelerator and a testing facility for new detector technologies.