The low-energy heavy ion storage ring CRYRING was transported from Stockholm to Darmstadt, modernized and reconfigured, and recommissioned as CRYRING@ESR. The machine is now in operation with all installations in service and is available as a user facility for experiments proposed through the SPARC collaboration. During the 2020–2022 period, we brought a number of experimental installations into service and used them to measure first data: the ultra-cold electron cooler for merged-beam electron–ion collisions, the gas jet target for atomic collisions, a next-generation microcalorimeter-based X-ray spectroscopy setup, and others. Ions can be injected either in low charge states from a local ion source through a 300 keV/u RFQ linac, or in high charge states from the GSI accelerator chain through ESR. This allows for very broad access to ions across the entire periodic table. CRYRING@ESR is able to de- or accelerate ions and cool and store beams of isotopically pure species in a desired charge state. While the analysis is still largely ongoing, the first experimental data already show that the machine reached its expected performance level, and our high expectations regarding achievable resolution in spectroscopy experiments have been fulfilled. With access to new classes of ions available through ESR injection and a new generation of experimental instrumentation, CRYRING@ESR is a unique facility for experiments with heavy, highly charged ions. Here, we will review our present setup and machine performance, discuss the data from our first commissioning experiments and briefly preview the upcoming new installations for the coming years.

We present a recently established setup for laser spectroscopy at CRYRING@ESR at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research. Here, laser spectroscopy can be performed on stored and cooled ion bunches and coasting beams. First spectra of ^24,25Mg⁺ ions are presented that were recorded by classical Doppler-limited fluorescence spectroscopy as well as Λ-spectroscopy using counter- and copropagating laser beams that are Doppler-shifted by several nm.

We present developments at the electron cooler of the CRYRING@ESR storage ring aimed at improving its performance as internal target in low-energy electron–ion collision experiments. We describe recent modifications of the high-voltage and vacuum systems which lead to improved electron energy control and lower background count rates during such measurements. In a benchmark experiment on dielectronic recombination of F $$^\text {6+}$$ 6+ , we demonstrate that a spectroscopic resolution equivalent to transverse and longitudinal thermal electron energy spreads of $$\approx$$ ≈ 1 meV and $$\approx$$ ≈ 45 µeV, respectively, can be achieved under optimum conditions. This surpasses system performance observed previously in similar experiments.

Highly charged heavy ions at rest offer a wide spectrum of precision measurements. The GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH is able to deliver ions up to U${}^{92+}$. As the production of these heavy, highly charged ions requires high kinetic energies, it is necessary to decelerate these ions for ultimate precision. The broad energy distribution, which results from the deceleration in the HITRAP linear decelerator, needs to be reduced to allow for further transportation and experiments. The HITRAP cooling trap is designed to cool, i.e., reduce, this energy spread by utilizing electron cooling. The commissioning of this trap is done with Ar${}^{16+}$-ions from a local EBIT ion source. By analyzing the signal of stored ions after ejection, properties such as ion lifetime, charge exchange, and ion motions can be observed. Here, we provide an overview of the recent results of the commissioning process and discuss future experiments.