The Proton Improvement Plan-II (PIP-II) is an essential upgrade to the Fermilab accelerator complex to provide powerful, high-intensity proton beams to the laboratory’s experiments.

The PIP-II particle accelerator will be the new heart of Fermilab, featuring a brand-new, 800-MeV, leading-edge superconducting linear accelerator. Its high intensity proton beam will power a broad range of particle physics experiments for decades to come, and maintain Fermilab’s leadership as one of the world’s premier particle physics laboratories. PIP-II will enable the most intense high-energy neutrino beam for the laboratory’s flagship project—the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (LBNF/DUNE). The Fermilab-hosted LBNF/DUNE is an international project to study neutrinos—tiny particles that could revolutionize our understanding of the universe.

PIP-II is the first U.S. accelerator project that will have significant contributions from international partners. Research institutions in India, Italy, UK and France will build major components of the 215-meter-long particle accelerator. Its flexible design will enable high power beam delivery to multiple users simultaneously and customized beams tailored to specific scientific needs. Working as a new first stage for Fermilab’s chain of accelerators, PIP-II will power both DUNE and an extensive suite of on-site particle physics experiments, including searches for new particles and new forces in our universe.

PIP-II is planned to deliver beam in the middle of the next decade. The project received CD-1 approval from the U.S. Department of Energy in July 2018. Groundbreaking for the PIP-II project occurred in March 2019 and in July 2020 the project team broke ground for the construction of the cryogenics plant building.