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| Booster (Fermilab) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Booster (Fermilab) |
| Location | Batavia, Illinois |
| Operator | Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory |
| Type | synchrotron particle accelerator |
| Status | Operational |
| Established | 1970s |
| Energy | 8 GeV protons |
| Circumference | 474.2 m |
Booster (Fermilab) is a rapid-cycling proton synchrotron located at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois. It accelerates proton bunches from the Cockcroft–Walton generator/linac injector energy to 8 giga-electronvolts for injection into the Main Injector and for fixed-target programs. The Booster has been a central component of Fermilab's accelerator complex, supporting neutrino, muon, and test-beam programs linked to collaborations such as NOvA, MINOS, MINERvA, MINERvA-DIS and Mu2e.
The Booster is a 474.2-meter-circumference synchrotron that performs rapid cycling at 15 Hz to raise protons from 400 MeV provided by the Fermilab Linac to 8 GeV for downstream systems including the Recycler (Fermilab), Main Injector, and the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB). It interfaces with major facilities and collaborations such as NOvA, MicroBooNE, ICARUS, and Short-Baseline Neutrino Program detectors, also serving test beams for projects like SBND and DUNE. As part of the United States Department of Energy laboratory network, the Booster contributes to national and international programs involving the CERN community, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Conceived during the late 1960s and commissioned in the 1970s, the Booster was constructed alongside the Fermilab Main Ring to realize the vision of Robert R. Wilson and successors such as Leon Lederman and John Peoples. Upgrades through the 1980s and 1990s incorporated advances from institutions including Argonne National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, while collaborations with SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory informed RF and magnet developments. The Booster's role evolved through programs like Tevatron operations, the transition to Proton Source priorities, and support for long-baseline experiments championed by Fermilab Directors including Pier Oddone and Nigel Lockyer. Interactions with national initiatives such as the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel reviews and funding cycles by the DOE Office of Science shaped modernization efforts.
The Booster employs combined-function magnets arranged in a lattice derived from alternate-gradient focusing, with magnet technology and power supplies evolved from designs used at CERN Proton Synchrotron and Brookhaven AGS. The RF system comprises multiple cavities tuned across the acceleration cycle, influenced by developments at DESY and TRIUMF, and synchronized with timing from systems similar to those at Paul Scherrer Institute. Key parameters include 8 GeV extraction energy, 15 Hz repetition rate, injection from a 400 MeV linac, and a harmonic number allowing multi-batch transfer compatible with the Main Injector and Recycler. Cooling, vacuum, and beam instrumentation mirror standards from Fermilab collaborations with IHEP and KEK.
Operational routines integrate beam preparation, injection painting, RF capture, acceleration, and extraction with diagnostics derived from experience at CERN, DESY, and SLAC. Beam dynamics challenges address space-charge effects at low energy, transverse and longitudinal instabilities studied in cooperation with University of Chicago and University of Wisconsin–Madison groups, and resonance correction schemes akin to methods from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Loss control, collimation strategies, and bunch-to-bucket transfer to the Main Injector follow protocols influenced by Fermilab Accelerator Division expertise and international partners such as INFN and CEA Saclay.
Major upgrade efforts include the original Proton Improvement Plan (PIP) and the proposed Proton Improvement Plan II (PIP-II) where the Booster interfaces with a new superconducting linac advocated by PIP-II Collaboration institutions including Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. PIP and PIP-II aim to increase beam power for experiments like DUNE and to reduce loss through improved injection, RF, and magnet systems—drawing on technologies from SNS and ESS (neutron source). Other projects encompass magnet refurbishments, RF amplifier replacements, upgraded vacuum systems, and enhanced instrumentation developed jointly with FNAL accelerator physicists and external collaborators from University of Oxford and Imperial College London.
The Booster delivers protons to the Booster Neutrino Beam supporting short-baseline neutrino experiments including MicroBooNE, SBND, and ICARUS, while also supplying protons for test-beam facilities used by detector development groups from CERN, DESY, and European XFEL collaborators. It underpins muon experiments like Muon g-2 and Mu2e, and provides injector supply for long-baseline initiatives such as NOvA and the future DUNE project coordinated with SURF (Sanford Underground Research Facility). The Booster's beam time supports industrial and medical isotope initiatives related to Nuclear Science Advisory Committee priorities and cross-disciplinary research with universities including MIT, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University.
Safety and maintenance follow DOE and Fermilab standards with radiation protection programs coordinated with the Fermilab Radiological Control organization and influenced by guidance from Nuclear Regulatory Commission-aligned practices. Maintenance cycles include planned downtime for magnet refurbishments, RF cavity work, and vacuum bakeouts, with personnel training from institutions such as American Society of Mechanical Engineers-aligned programs and collaborative safety review boards involving CERN and Brookhaven National Laboratory experts. Environmental monitoring addresses groundwater and air emissions consistent with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency regulations and interagency coordination with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency frameworks, while waste handling follows protocols shared with Argonne National Laboratory and other DOE labs.
Category:Particle accelerators Category:Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Category:Proton synchrotrons