Accelerator Development for ATLAS over the decades

ATLAS has played a pivotal role in the inception and development of accelerators for nuclear physics, pioneering the use of RF superconductivity for ions nearly five decades ago. Facility upgrades and world-leading research have been continuous and are ongoing. We step through several important facility upgrades over the decades that have had major positive impacts on both the accelerator and scientific user communities. The future of accelerator development remains active with R&D on new technologies, such as thin-film Nb₃Sn, that offer the possibility of transformative benefits in terms of size, cost and capabilities both for ATLAS and other future ion accelerators.