Fermilab proton accelerator complex status and improvement plans

Abstract

Fermilab carries out an extensive program of accelerator-based high energy particle physics research at the Intensity Frontier that relies on the operation of 8 GeV and 120 GeV proton beamlines for a number of fixed target experiments. Routine operation with a world-record 700 kW of average 120 GeV beam power on the neutrino target was achieved in 2017 as a result of the Proton Improvement Plan (PIP) upgrade. There are plans to further increase the power from 900–1000 kW. The next major upgrade of the FNAL accelerator complex, called PIP-II, is under development. It aims at 1.2 MW beam power on target at the start of the LBNF/DUNE experiment in the middle of the next decade and assumes replacement of the existing 40 years old 400 MeV normal-conducting Linac with a modern 800 MeV superconducting RF linear accelerator. There are several concepts to further double the beam power to [Formula: see text] 2.4 MW after replacement of the existing 8 GeV Booster synchrotron. In this review, we discuss current performance of the Fermilab proton accelerator complex, the upgrade plans for the next two decades and the accelerator R&D program to address cost and performance risks for these upgrades.