The Stanford Linear Collider

The Stanford Linear Collider (SLC) is the first and only high-energy e⁺e^- linear collider in the world. Its most remarkable features are high intensity, submicron sized, polarized (e^-) beams at a single interaction point. The main challenges posed by these unique characteristics include machine-wide emittance preservation, consistent high intensity operation, polarized electron production and transport, and the achievement of a high degree of beam stability on all time scales. In addition to serving as an important machine for the study of Z⁰ boson production and decay using polarized beams, the SLC is also an indispensable source of hands-on experience for future linear colliders. Each new year of operation has been highlighted with a marked improvement in performance. The most significant improvements for the 1994-95 run include new low impedance vacuum chambers for the damping rings, an upgrade to the optics and diagnostics of the final focus systems, and a higher degree of polarization from the electron source. As a result, the average luminosity has nearly doubled over the previous year with peaks approaching 10³⁰ cm^-2 s^-1 and an 80% electron polarization at the interaction point. These developments as well as the remaining identifiable performance limitations will be discussed