The laboratory's main research facility is the CEBAF accelerator, which consists of a polarized electron source and injector and a pair of 7/8 mile (1400 m) long superconducting RF linear accelerators. The ends of the two linear accelerators are connected to each other by two arc sections with magnets that bend the electron beam in an arc. So, the beam path is a race-track shaped oval. (Most accelerators, such as CERN or Fermilab, have a circular path with many short chambers to speed up the electrons spread along the circle.) As the electron beam makes up to five successive orbits, its energy is increased up to a maximum of 6 GeV. Effectively, CEBAF is a linear accelerator (LINAC), like SLAC at Stanford, that has been folded up to a tenth of its normal length. It acts as if it were a 7.8 mile long linear accelerator.