The PETRA storage ring (short for Positron–Electron Tandem Ring Accelerator) has been in operation since 1978. It has a circumference of 2,304 m. Until 1986, electrons and positrons collided in PETRA for research in particle physics (experiments JADE, MARK-J, TASSO and PLUTO). From 1990 on, PETRA served as a pre-accelerator for the HERA storage ring, and from 1995 on also as a synchrotron radiation source with two test experimental stations. Since 2009, the facility has been delivering hard X-ray beams of very high brilliance to over 40 experimental stations under the name PETRA III.
The PETRA storage ring (short for Positron–Electron Tandem Ring Accelerator) has been in operation since 1978. It has a circumference of 2,304 m. Until 1986, electrons and positrons collided in PETRA for research in particle physics (experiments JADE MARK-J TASSO and PLUTO). From 1990 on, PETRA served as a pre-accelerator for the HERA storage ring, and from 1995 on also as a synchrotron radiation source with two test experimental stations. Since 2009, the facility has been delivering hard X-ray beams of very high brilliance to over 40 experimental stations under the name PETRA III.