Proton Improvement Plan-II

International partnerships

PIP-II is the first particle accelerator on U.S. soil built with significant contributions from international partners. Institutions in France, India, Italy, Poland and the U.K. are expected to contribute to the project, bringing specific expertise and capabilities in accelerator technologies and established track records in international accelerator projects.

International partners are contributing to all aspects of the PIP-II project with a strong emphasis on superconducting technologies. Each institution has prior experience developing components for forefront particle accelerators and looks to expand on those capabilities. Each country’s contribution is aligned with their particular areas of expertise and with their national interests. This creates a true win-win situation for everyone involved. In addition, the partners are strongly motivated by their domestic physics research programs, each of which is participating in the DUNE at LBNF experimental program enabled by PIP-II.

The successful completion of the PIP-II project will provide a blueprint for future accelerator projects in the U.S. based on international contributions.


India

Agency: Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)

Participating institutions: Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai; Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi; Raja Rammana Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore; and Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), Kolkata.

  • Based on their extensive design and high-tech manufacturing experience, a number of Indian institutions will provide a significant number of technical components for PIP-II, including superconducting acceleration structures, electromagnets and radio-frequency power sources. These will be fabricated in India and then transported to the U.S. for installation.
  • India’s participation in PIP-II will provide technical insight and know-how for the development of their domestic accelerator program and future projects, such as the Indian Spallation Neutron Source initiative.

France

Agencies: Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (CNRS/IN2P3)

  • French institutions have extensive experience in superconducting radio-frequency accelerators which stems from their participation in projects, such as the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (X-FEL) facility and the European Spallation Source (ESS). These institutions will provide significant technical components and expertise for PIP-II, including accelerating cryomodules.
  • Their participation will expand France’s expertise and capabilities in superconducting radio-frequency technology.

Italy

Agency: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)

  • As an international center-of-excellence for the development of advanced particle accelerators technologies, INFN has contributed to the construction of European accelerators, including the European X-FEL and ESS. INFN institutions will provide technical components for PIP-II, including superconducting accelerating cavities.
  • The institute’s participation allows Italy to further develop its leading expertise and capabilities in superconducting accelerating cavity design and manufacturing.

United Kingdom

Agency: Science and Technology Facilities Council as part of UK Research and Innovation (STFC UKRI)

  • The STFC UKRI’s role in the development of PIP-II builds on their participation in ESS. Their contribution includes the construction of three superconducting accelerator cryomodules.
  • Their participation in PIP-II enables the U.K. to significantly expand its expertise and capability in superconducting radio-frequency technology, as it undertakes the construction of these cryomodules for the first time in the U.K.

Poland

Participating institutions: Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (WUST); Lodz University of Technology; Warsaw University of Technology.

  • The Polish contributions to PIP-II build on the country’s expertise in cryogenics and next-generation superconducting accelerator technologies. Cryogenics is essential for operating superconducting accelerators, as well as for the transport and distribution of liquefied natural gas. All three institutions have made prior contributions to the European X-FEL and ESS projects. For PIP-II, WUST plans to contribute hardware for the cryogenic transfer lines, whereas Lodz and Warsaw universities plan to contribute Low-Level RF and Beam Instrumentation technology.
  • Collaboration between the United States and Poland on PIP-II will benefit both scientific communities, particularly for clean energy industries and for the partnership between academia and industry to develop transformative technologies.