Fermilab completes its part in upgrading world’s most powerful X-ray laser

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has completed building and delivering the final component it is providing to the high-energy upgrade of the world’s most powerful X-ray free-electron laser, the Linac Coherent Light Source, LCLS, at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

Fermilab’s contributions have been crucial for the superconducting accelerator for LCLS, which enables X-ray laser beams that are 10,000 times brighter with pulses that arrive up to a million times per second. The high-energy upgrade will add 23 cryomodules to the superconducting accelerator, doubling the energy of the beam and more than doubling the maximum X-ray energy.

The shipment of the Fermilab-built cryomodule — an accelerating structure that is a key part of the LCLS high-energy upgrade — was commemorated in a ceremony on April 22, attended by the directors of both laboratories, Fermilab’s Norbert Holtkamp and SLAC’s John Sarrao. The cryomodule departed Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois on April 24 and arrived at SLAC in Menlo Park, California, on April 28.

With this successful delivery, Fermilab completed its decade-long cryomodule production run for the superconducting LCLS upgrades, which was a close partnership between Fermilab, SLAC and Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Cornell University, Michigan State University and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf laboratory also made technical contributions to the upgrades. This work reinforces America’s leadership in accelerator science and its ability to deliver world-class scientific infrastructure.

“We need collaborations to build the projects necessary to answer the big scientific questions of today,” said Holtkamp, who managed the construction of the LCLS-II upgrade during his tenure as deputy director of SLAC. “SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source upgrades are the perfect example of the Department of Energy national labs working together to usher in a new era of science.”

“We need collaborations to build the projects necessary to answer the big scientific questions of today.”

The lab’s success in developing and building these superconducting cryomodules with rigorous safety and quality standards set the stage for the Proton Improvement Plan-II, one of Fermilab’s flagship projects. PIP-II is similarly assembling superconducting radio-frequency cryomodules to build a linear accelerator to power the forthcoming Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. Fermilab is the host laboratory for DUNE — an international collaboration of institutions from over 35 countries — strengthening the lab’s position as a center for neutrino research.

“Our work on these LCLS upgrade projects has been a major accomplishment for the lab and was critical for us to develop the capabilities and confidence to execute PIP-II,” said Sam Posen, associate lab director for the Applied Physics and Superconducting Technology division at Fermilab.

Beyond physics, the effort has also enabled partnerships with industry, allowing Fermilab to directly apply its research to benefiting the public.

“I feel an incredible sense of pride for this wonderful team, and there’s a little bit of bittersweetness because it’s the conclusion of such a great project,” said Posen. “We’re sad to see it end, but we’re excited for all the other work that we’ve embarked on.”

Wanted: more X-rays

LCLS, the world’s first free-electron light source producing hard X-rays, turned on in 2009. Ten years later, its first upgrade, LCLS-II, was completed, resulting in a superconducting linear accelerator that significantly boosted the facility’s capability beyond anything else on the planet.

Accelerator experts at SLAC, Jefferson Lab, Cornell University, and Fermilab combined forces to figure out how to improve the cryomodules. They targeted the superconducting accelerator cavities, the components inside the cryomodules that accelerate the particle beam. Through a process called “nitrogen doping,” they optimized the molecular makeup of the walls of the cavities, and they developed new procedures to assemble and finish the components. They also improved the cleanliness to reduce unwanted effects from any contamination on the surface, including errant dust particles.

“Fermilab didn’t just build the cryomodules — we developed the enabling technologies at the heart of these components, and we were the Designer of Record for the cryomodules,” said Posen. “We have incredible people on the Fermilab technical team who innovated and came up with brilliant new approaches.”

Once Fermilab verified the new design in 2021, they and the team at Jefferson Lab began constructing the rest of the 24 cryomodules needed for the high-energy upgrade — 23 for the linac and one spare. Jefferson Lab finished sending their 10 cryomodules last year, and now, all 14 Fermilab cryomodules are also at SLAC.

In December 2025, SLAC shut down the LCLS linac to begin the installation and commissioning process, which is expected to take about two years. Soon, the superconducting Linac Coherent Light Source will be even more powerful and able to conduct science at unprecedented energies.

Celebrating a milestone

At the Fermilab ceremony on April 22, Fermilab Director Holtkamp, SLAC Director Sarrao, and other officials and team members delivered remarks in honor of the achievement. Holtkamp, drawing on his time at SLAC, recalled some of the history of the LCLS high-energy upgrade. He, Sarrao and others signed their names on the bright orange cryomodule, commemorating the milestone and bidding the component safe travels to its home at SLAC.

“I’ve been part of the story from both ends,” said Holtkamp. “In 2013, I was part of starting it. And today, I put my signature on the final cryomodule.”

“This is a machine that stands not only as the world’s most powerful X-ray free-electron laser but really as a testament to what is possible when vision, courage and collaboration come together at the highest level,” said Fermilab Chief Technology Officer Anna Grassellino, who was instrumental in developing the novel nitrogen-doping technique when she was an associate scientist at Fermilab, at the ceremony.

“We brought together all of us — from the scientists to the technicians to the engineers — and we made it work. It was a project that required us to take risks, to challenge assumptions, to explore uncharted territory,” said Grassellino, who is also director of the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center at Fermilab. “And I think what’s very important here is that what we did not only enabled this incredible machine but also opened the doors to broader impacts.”

Impacts in science and beyond

The technology Fermilab developed for the high-energy LCLS superconducting linac bolsters American competitiveness through a partnership with the U.S. company xLight, enabled by a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement in 2024. xLight reached out to Fermilab seeking a partner in developing superconducting radio-frequency, or SRF, systems for their semiconductor lithography systems. Their goal is to improve semiconductor chips that are critical to many aspects of modern life, from smartphones and computers to military and defense.

The Fermilab team is thrilled that technology developed at national labs will be transferred to industry to benefit the American public. “This is exactly what the U.S. national labs should be doing,” said Posen.

“This is a machine that stands not only as the world’s most powerful X-ray free-electron laser but really as a testament to what is possible when vision, courage and collaboration come together at the highest level.”

Fermilab’s work on the SRF technology also paved the way for future projects. LCLS-II High Energy cryomodules were the first SRF cryomodules that Fermilab built — perfect practice for the SRF cryomodules that the Proton Improvement Plan-II will need to assemble Fermilab’s new linear accelerator. The PIP-II linac will power the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment at the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility, which is one of Fermilab’s highest priorities.

“There was investment in our facilities, our expertise and our capabilities, and that was so, so important for PIP-II,” said Posen. “For us to have gotten that experience and confidence was vital. The people who assembled and tested the high-energy LCLS cryomodules are now turning around and doing the same for PIP-II cryomodules.”

Fermilab’s deep involvement in the LCLS upgrades also enhances and cements the lab’s dominant position in the global SRF landscape. “The LCLS upgrades really put Fermilab on the world map that we’re one of the leading institutes to build this type of cryomodule,” said Wu. “We can say that we have the best latest, greatest technology.”

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Northern Illinois University, officially launching a collaborative, cutting-edge quantum science program for graduate students. The inaugural class will begin in the fall semester of 2026.

Through this partnership, the two institutions will launch a Master of Science in Physics program with a specialization in quantum science and technology. This new offering in the NIU Department of Physics will provide an interactive, hands-on educational experience for students interested in manipulating, fabricating and advancing tools and technologies that leverage key features of quantum mechanics — including superposition, entanglement and interference. Students will begin taking classes in fall 2026, and they will start their research with Fermilab in the summer of 2027. 

 with a specialization in quantum science and technology. This new offering in the NIU Department of Physics will provide an interactive, hands-on educational experience for students interested in manipulating, fabricating and advancing tools and technologies that leverage key features of quantum mechanics — including superposition, entanglement and interference. Students will begin taking classes in fall 2026, and they will start their research with Fermilab in the summer of 2027. 

Officials from Fermilab and NIU met on April 29 to mark the milestone in their partnership. During the event, representatives toured Fermilab’s Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center, which serves as a national hub for advanced research and innovation in quantum science and technology and will be an important resource for the new program.

The tour was followed by the signing of a formal agreement, solidifying the institutions’ collaborative commitment to the innovative graduate program. The newly established specialization will offer graduate students formal instruction at the NIU and Fermilab campuses, with hands-on learning experiences at the SQMS Center. 

“We are thrilled to partner with NIU in educating the next generation of quantum scientists, right here in our backyard,” said Norbert Holtkamp, Fermilab director. “Students in this program will learn tangible skills in quantum science, skills and experiences directly connected to Fermilab’s science goals, ultimately preparing them to become the next generation of subject matter experts in the field.”

The program is an innovative partnership of a state university with a DOE national laboratory research center. By partnering with a national lab, NIU students enrolled in this program will be able to leverage the research, expertise and facilities available at the SQMS Center, one of five DOE quantum information science research centers. The centers are part of DOE’s national initiative to develop and deploy the world’s most powerful quantum computers and sensors.

“For decades, our students and faculty have had close and productive working relationships with nearby Fermilab, a global leader in quantum science and technology as well as particle and accelerator physics,” NIU President Lisa Freeman said. “We’re excited to expand our collaboration with Fermilab to include our new master’s specialization in quantum science and technology. This partnership creates a powerful new opportunity for students to study at a leading-edge facility where discovery is happening every day.”

The program was jointly developed by Fermilab and NIU, with leadership from Fermilab’s Office of Education and Public Engagement, the SQMS Center and NIU’s Department of Physics. Together, the partners designed a specialized curriculum shaped by subject matter experts and delivered by leading scientists and instructors in the field. By combining interactive coursework with hands-on research opportunities led by SQMS researchers, the program will equip students with the skills and experience needed for careers in quantum science and technology.

NIU is a research partner with SQMS, contributing and leveraging its expertise in materials science, nanofabrication, characterization and superconducting radio-frequency cavities.

More information on the master’s specialization in quantum science and technology is available on the NIU Physics graduate program page for quantum science and technology. 

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) is strengthening the next generation of scientists and engineers through its Saturday Morning Quantum (SMQ*) program, graduating a new cohort of Chicago-area high school students prepared to explore careers in quantum science and technology on April 25.

Through programs like SMQ*, the laboratory is developing a future workforce equipped to contribute to next-generation fields such as quantum computing, advanced materials and precision sensing. One of Fermilab’s top priorities is driving science, technology and innovation for the benefit of society.

This year’s graduation ceremony took place at the Olive Harvey College Learning Center in Chicago’s South Shore community. Those in attendance included Chicago Deputy Director of Economic Development Tom Anderson, Alderman Peter Chico, Olive Harvey College Vice President of Academic Affairs Brandon Nichols and Fermilab Director Norbert Holtkamp.

During the ceremony, students were recognized for completing the program. Thirty‑seven students received participation certificates for completing eight out of the 10 sessions, 15 earned perfect‑attendance certificates, and 28 earned college credit.

“We are proud of the role of Fermilab and our staff in helping to educate and excite students on the possibilities of quantum science,” Holtkamp said. “I would like to thank the teachers and students who are dedicated to this program. Through programs like Saturday Morning Quantum, Fermilab is helping build the workforce that will advance quantum science and deliver the capabilities the nation, and our world, will rely on in the future.”

The SMQ* program is led by Fermilab’s Office of Education and Public Engagement, in collaboration with scientists from the laboratory’s Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS). The asterisk in SMQ* represents “more,” reflecting the program’s goal of expanding access to advanced scientific education for students across Chicago.

Over the course of the 10-week program, students engage directly with Fermilab scientists and engineers while exploring core topics in quantum science, including quantum mechanics, superconducting technologies, quantum computing and sensing, and the cryogenic systems that enable quantum devices. Quantum industry partners join sessions aligned with specific topics to share their career trajectories and paths towards research and development. Participants also gain exposure to real-world research environments through tours of Fermilab facilities, including the SQMS Center, where researchers are developing advanced quantum systems.

“Programs like SMQ* are critical to expanding the pipeline of talent in quantum information science,” said Anna Grassellino, chief technology officer and director of the SQMS Center. “We are excited to connect students to real-world research and with scientists at the SQMS Center. With this program, we are preparing a new generation of quantum scientists to contribute to technologies that will have a broad impact across science, industry and society.”

SMQ* students said they valued learning directly from lab researchers and exploring a field that is shaping the future of technology.

“Thanks to the instructors from Fermilab, I was able to learn more about quantum and quantum computing. There were no dumb questions in class,” said one participant.

SMQ* builds on Fermilab’s long-running Saturday Morning Physics program and reflects the laboratory’s broader commitment to workforce development and community engagement. By bringing advanced science education into Chicago-area communities, Fermilab is helping create pathways into STEM fields and expanding access to opportunities in emerging technologies.

Through its leadership in quantum science and its investment in education and workforce development, Fermilab is helping ensure America remains at the forefront of discovery and innovation in quantum science and technology.

Tell me about what you do at Fermilab.

I’m a mechanical engineer, and I work in the Applied Physics and Superconducting Technology Directorate for the Proton Improvement Plan-II project. Back in August, I was appointed the position of level-3 manager for the 650-megahertz system under the superconducting radio-frequency and cryogenics branch of PIP-II.

PIP-II is building a linear accelerator, and it will be made up of 23 cryomodules of different flavors. In my position, I’m responsible for the delivery of 13 low-beta and high-beta 650-megahertz cryomodules. I’m also sub-project manager for the design and assembly of the single-spoke resonators and 650 cryomodules.

That’s an important job; those cryomodules are a major component to the upgrade of Fermilab’s Accelerator Complex. What does that role entail?

The PIP-II project involves a close collaboration with partners from Europe and India. The HB650 cryomodules are being built in the U.K., and the LB650 cryomodules are being built in France with SRF cavities delivered from Italy. Several cryomodule components are also being built in India. So, a lot of my job is to deal with partners and to control the design of the cryomodule, the interfaces between different cryomodules, the infrastructure and so on.

How did your education and career path lead you to Fermilab?

I studied mechanical engineering in Italy at the Polytechnic University of Turin, and I did the last part of my master’s degree in mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2019. After that, I started looking for a job. I knew of Fermilab, so I applied to different positions. I started work in the year 2020 — right in the middle of the covid pandemic.

It sounds like a difficult time to begin a new job! What was that like?

I was in Italy before the pandemic started because I went back for the Christmas period. Then when I got the job offer, I was still in Italy, and when I was planning to come back to Fermilab to start my position at the end of March, it was the week that international arrivals were restricted because of the pandemic. I couldn’t return to the U.S. for quite some time, like half a year, and I was actually able to arrive at Fermilab in November 2020.

What do you find most challenging about your work?

My job is quite broad in scope. It’s interesting because I started here working on the design of the SSR2 cryomodule. After some time, I started working with different subsystems that are involved in the cryomodule design, like cavities, couplers and magnets. From design, you have to transition to procurement, so you have to work with industry, write procurement specifications, manage vendors and also handle incoming quality controls.

And what do you find most rewarding about the work you do?

It’s always very rewarding to see something that I design, or I took part in the design of, to be actually built.

What I also find very exciting is the work with partners, as I’m exposed to many different people working at different laboratories, both in Europe and India. I get to know different cultures and also different ways of working in the same field: superconducting radio frequency.

I feel like there is quite a strong bonding between people, especially the people I work with. I like working with people at Fermilab, and I like being at the lab and seeing hands-on activity taking place.

When you’re not at the lab, how do you like to spend your time?

I do triathlons, so I swim, bike and run most of the time when I’m not working; my favorite of those is biking. The latest triathlon I did was the Ironman 70.3 in Rockford, Illinois. I’d like to compete in a long-distance triathlon next year, which includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile ride and a 26-mile run.

Norbert Holtkamp said he wanted to be Fermilab director because of “the challenge.”

It’s not the managerial side that is challenging for him. Holtkamp is a seasoned leader with more than 20 years of experience managing large, complex scientific projects at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, and ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in France.

Rather, Holtkamp is drawn by the challenge of answering the questions that the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory — and the entire DOE national lab system — was created to solve.

“We are here to ask the difficult questions: the key questions that the nation needs to answer in science and technology,” Holtkamp said. “As a community, we need to make sure we ask these questions broadly, define their priorities and then think about the instruments needed to answer them. That has been the fabric of the national labs from their inception.”

“We are here to ask the difficult questions: the key questions that the nation needs to answer in science and technology.”

Holtkamp stepped into his role as director of Fermilab on Jan. 12, 2026. In the 100 days since, he has defined the lab’s direction and strategy — like focusing a particle beam to its target. The result is that Fermilab has a clear course forward that is grounded in focus, execution and safe delivery of the laboratory’s and the nation’s highest scientific objectives.

One of his boldest early moves was to identify and promote three clear and concrete priorities to guide the lab’s work:

• Delivering a powerful particle beam for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment at the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility by 2031

• Supporting the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider upgrade and the CMS experiment at CERN

• Driving technological innovation for the benefit of science and society

Holtkamp also made clear that these initiatives must be done safely, with quality and on schedule — in that order. “Focus is the key to success for organizations facing daunting projects,” he said. “Hopefully, I achieved that.”

Delivering the world’s leading neutrino program

Delivering DUNE — efficiently and effectively — is Fermilab’s top institutional priority and central to maintaining U.S. leadership in neutrino science. DUNE is an international flagship experiment hosted by Fermilab and designed to unlock the mysteries of neutrinos — subatomic particles that may hold the key to understanding why the balance was tipped toward there being more matter than antimatter in our universe. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility for DUNE comprises two state-of-the-art particle detectors: a smaller detector at Fermilab in Illinois, and a much larger detector a mile below Earth’s surface at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota.

The experiment will be powered by a new linear accelerator being built by the Proton Improvement Plan-II, another flagship project at Fermilab. Together, DUNE at LBNF and PIP-II will shape the next generation of discovery by not only answering fundamental questions about our universe but also driving next-generation technologies.

In the last 100 days, the LBNF/DUNE-US project team hosted several successful “critical decision” reviews required by the Department of Energy, including the essential CD-2/3 review that approved the project’s performance baseline and start of construction. This successful review signals that the project is fully planned and ready for execution.

At the South Dakota site, the collaboration is preparing to move 6,000 tons of massive steel components underground for installation of the particle detector cryostats. With this, the project enters its third and final phase there — the installation of the DUNE detector.

“We are extremely grateful for Norbert’s direction and focus. I think it will greatly benefit the DUNE at LBNF effort and enable us to achieve and execute at the highest level.”

“We are extremely grateful for Norbert’s direction and focus,” said Steve Brice, head of the Fermilab DUNE Coordination Office. “I think it will greatly benefit the DUNE at LBNF effort and enable us to achieve and execute at the highest level.”

Meanwhile, the PIP-II team continues to make progress on Fermilab’s campus in Illinois. In 2026, the team is focusing on what they call the “warm front end” — the source where negatively charged hydrogen ions will be created to feed into the accelerator and eventually form the neutrino beam. The collaboration recently began installing piping for the cryogenic distribution system, and they are preparing for the first piece of the beamline — the radio-frequency quadrupole — to be brought into the PIP-II tunnel in the coming weeks.

Enabling U.S. leadership in global particle physics

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN is the largest, most powerful particle accelerator in the world. Fermilab plays a critical role in enabling its next stage, an upgrade called the High-Luminosity LHC. As the host U.S. laboratory for the CMS experiment at CERN, Fermilab is vital to its success and will deliver next-generation magnets, detector systems and computing infrastructure that will greatly expand the data output of the CMS experiment. These contributions help reinforce Fermilab’s role as a key integrator of U.S. participation in global particle physics, ensuring America fully realizes the scientific return on its investment in the HL-LHC.

“The three priorities from the director provide focus on all critical aspects of day-to-day work in the HL-LHC AUP,” said Giorgio Apollinari, Fermilab senior scientist and project director of the HL-LHC Accelerator Upgrade Project, the U.S. in-kind contribution to the LHC upgrade. “There is an appreciation for the emphasis on the AUP effort, but also a renewed awareness that our first mandate is to plan and execute work with safety on the forefront of our activities.”

“The three priorities from the director provide focus on all critical aspects of day-to-day work in the HL-LHC AUP.”

Fermilab’s scope of work for the HL-LHC upgrade was established in 2021. Already, Fermilab has shipped five cryoassemblies containing niobium-tin magnets for use in the collider. The magnets will focus the beam at the CMS and ATLAS interaction points, increasing the number of collisions in the high-luminosity era.

Fermilab will deliver five additional cryoassemblies by mid-2027. The innovative superconducting magnet system, developed through a consortium of U.S. national laboratories and institutions, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Fermilab, is an important element in the major upgrade that will transform the Large Hadron Collider into the HL-LHC. Fermilab’s leadership and participation in the upgrade demonstrate the lab’s commitment to its ongoing collaboration with CERN and DOE national laboratories.

Driving innovation

Holtkamp’s third priority is driving innovation by advancing quantum science, artificial intelligence, accelerator research and development, and detector technologies to create impact far beyond particle physics. Fermilab’s innovation program will advance foundational technologies at the edge of what’s possible — with applications that ripple across medicine, national security, computing and beyond.

As the home to collaborations like the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center, one of five DOE National Quantum Information Science Research Centers, Fermilab is primed to drive innovation for the benefit of society.

“Norbert’s emphasis on technology as a driver of growth and expanding our impact beyond traditional boundaries is both timely and essential for modernizing the laboratory,” said Anna Grassellino, Fermilab chief technology officer and director of SQMS. “It reflects a modern vision where scientific excellence and technological innovation go hand in hand.”

In quantum information science, SQMS has recently achieved major milestones across materials, devices and systems. The center set new performance records for the duration of time quantum devices can reliably store information. SQMS cavity qudit systems have demonstrated record coherence values over 20 milliseconds, while transmon devices using the element rhenium reached coherence for a record 1.2 milliseconds — important steps toward building more powerful and reliable quantum technologies.

SQMS has also developed a liquid-helium cryoplant-based solution delivering an order-of-magnitude increase in cooling power at 4 kelvin — around minus 452 degrees Fahrenheit — paving the way toward more efficient and scalable quantum data centers.

In addition, a novel analysis of data from the Dark SRF experiment at Fermilab has produced the strongest laboratory-based constraints on the photon mass to date.

Fermilab is also a key contributor to the DOE Genesis Mission, which is uniting all 17 national laboratories with academia and industry to accelerate discovery through AI. SQMS plays a central role in both its quantum and AI components. Industry partnerships with IBM, Maybell Quantum and Rigetti Computing are advancing scalable, fault-tolerant quantum systems while SQMS researchers are leveraging AI to accelerate algorithm and error-correction discovery, automate quantum measurements and reduce background interference.

As a national quantum center, SQMS is leading a cross-center effort to bring together all types of quantum data — from materials to algorithms — into a unified, AI-ready ecosystem. This initiative will enable foundation models and advanced analytics, accelerating breakthroughs, expanding access and positioning DOE as a global leader in AI-driven quantum discovery.

“In just 100 days, Norbert Holtkamp has set a compelling direction for Fermilab — one grounded in focus, execution and growth.”

More broadly, Fermilab’s contributions to the Genesis Mission include optimizing particle accelerators, advancing microchip design through the AXESS project and supporting the American Science Cloud through the Fermi Data Platform. The laboratory is also applying AI to theoretical physics, making decades of collider data AI-ready through the TREASURE initiative and enhancing astrophysics via the AI Universe project.

In addition, the lab continues to lead in emerging technologies. Fermilab teams completed construction of the laser system for MAGIS-100, the world’s largest vertical atom interferometer. Fermilab and Stanford University researchers achieved 100-picosecond synchronization of distributed quantum systems using the XCOM network, a key step toward scaling interconnections of quantum systems.

“In just 100 days, Norbert Holtkamp has set a compelling direction for Fermilab — one grounded in focus, execution and growth,” said Grassellino. “By defining clear priorities and aligning the laboratory to support them, he has positioned Fermilab to move with greater coherence and purpose.”

Enhancing operational excellence

A central element of Holtkamp’s management approach has been strengthening Fermilab’s operational effectiveness to support disciplined and effective scientific research and project delivery. Part of his early efforts included configuring the Fermilab team to better support DOE’s missions and priorities. The new organizational structure will streamline governance, improve organizational effectiveness, allow for faster decision-making, improve cost efficiency and employee engagement, and reduce bureaucracy.

Incorporating lessons he learned from other labs, Holtkamp has flattened the organizational structure to increase the employee-to-supervisor ratio. The new, simplified structure has scientific research guided under three overarching directorates: Technology, Accelerators, and Physics.

As part of his “management by walking around” approach, Holtkamp has traveled to various parts of the lab to meet with staff in person. “I really appreciated his visits to work areas,” said Apollinari. “This was a great plus for the workforce to have the lab director see where they work and experience their surroundings.”

Holtkamp said he is happy with how the lab community is reacting to all the changes so far. “What I’m most impressed with is how extremely well people are responding to the challenge I put out there and how wonderfully they deliver,” Holtkamp said.

He also noted his appreciation for the strong support Fermilab receives from the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and the collaborative relationship between the laboratory and the DOE Fermi Site Office. Holtkamp expressed gratitude as well for support from the board of directors of Fermi Forward Discovery Group, which is contracted to manage and operate Fermilab on behalf of the Department of Energy.

Successful homecoming

One hundred days into his tenure, Holtkamp has established a clear direction for Fermilab — one that aligns scientific ambition with disciplined execution. By focusing on delivering the world’s leading neutrino program, driving collaboration to enable global particle physics leadership, and advancing technologies that benefit society, Fermilab is reinforcing its position as America’s particle physics laboratory.

Holtkamp said he looks forward to continuing to advocate for Fermilab’s mission and to maintaining and strengthening the lab’s collaboration with other institutions, including with Chicagoland neighbor Argonne National Laboratory and the other DOE national labs.

Ultimately, Holtkamp is happy to return to the institution that first welcomed him and his family to the United States in 1998. “For me, this is a coming-home thing after more than 25 years,” Holtkamp said. “It’s very enjoyable.”

Much of the universe remains invisible to us, and scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory are developing new quantum technologies to search for it.

Dark photons are hypothetical particles that behave like an extremely weak, invisible version of an electromagnetic field. If they exist, they might occasionally deposit a tiny microwave signal into a detector.

The challenge for physicists is that they do not know the signal’s frequency in advance. It’s like scanning an endless radio dial of white noise, hoping to stumble upon a lone, faint broadcast from an unknown station. In a standard search, scientists use a microwave cavity, essentially a carefully engineered metal resonator, as a sensitive antenna. If a dark photon exists at the right frequency, it could deposit a faint signal into the cavity. But because the frequency is unknown, searches must tune and listen, one setting at a time.

To break through this scanning bottleneck, Lu is combining ultra-coherent cavity hardware with entangling operations, quantum-state preparation, and low-loss interconnects — specialized links that allow the cavities to share signals efficiently — so multiple cavities can function as a coordinated sensor array.

By linking the cavities via remote quantum entanglement, the sensors can operate as a single cohesive unit. This quantum-enhanced array allows the system to scan through the “radio dial” of frequencies much faster and with far greater sensitivity than a single sensor ever could.

“The key is not just building better cavities.” Lu said. “It is learning how to make many ultra-coherent sensors work together so entanglement becomes a real advantage in the experiment.”

A four-cavity prototype, designed as a foundation for larger arrays, is the project’s first milestone. While the initial system is modest in size, the architecture is built to scale.

“If we can demonstrate the right architecture and control at that scale, we can extend the same framework to much larger arrays,” Lu said.

The project leverages techniques from superconducting quantum computing, which are now proving especially powerful for sensing. These methods make it possible to prepare, entangle, and nondestructively measure highly excited nonclassical cavity states, which are key resources for turning quantum coherence into a practical sensing advantage.

Lu’s research aims to demonstrate a measurable quantum advantage in dark matter detection while also guiding the design of broader classes of quantum sensors, including future searches for particles such as axions. Beyond sensing, the same hardware and interconnect architecture is also key to the development of SQMS’s modular quantum computing and distributed quantum communication. These advances could ultimately benefit our society by enabling faster, more efficient computing systems and communication networks that are much more secure.

Inside an unassuming building on the campus of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, a small research team is tackling a challenge vital to the world’s largest neutrino experiment. Their work focuses on powering photon detectors, key instruments that could contribute to revealing our universe’s deepest secrets and ultimately uncover new physics.

Associate Professor David Martinez Caicedo is leading a research group of undergraduate and graduate students at the university, along with postdoctoral researchers, to perfect a method for carefully sending power to the highly sensitive photon detectors that will be installed within the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment’s massive far detector modules.

Martinez is a member of the international collaboration for DUNE, composed of more than 1,500 scientists and engineers from over 35 countries and hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. DUNE will seek to deepen our understanding of neutrinos — mysterious subatomic particles that may have played a central role in tipping the scale toward there being more matter than antimatter in our universe.

Inception of an idea

In 2019, two Fermilab researchers began discussing ways to provide power to the two liquid-argon detector modules that would be installed at the DUNE far site a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota. While sending power to the first detector module was relatively straightforward, the second, called the vertical drift, presented a unique challenge due to its design. Flavio Cavanna, a senior scientist with Fermilab, was the point person to solve this problem.

“In the vertical drift design, there is no easy way to provide power to the photon detectors,” Cavanna said. “My first idea was to put it on the cathode, but we didn’t have any idea for how this would work.”

Cavanna reached out to Bill Pellico, a senior engineer with Fermilab, to chart a course to provide power to the vertical drift that would be compatible with the existing design of the detector module.

“Bill is an expert on high voltage and power delivery, and he came up with a couple ideas, one of which was to use power over fiber,” Cavanna said. While this technology exists in the market already, there was no clear indication it would work within a liquid-argon environment.

“In the vertical drift design, there is no easy way to provide power to the photon detectors.”

“I had some experience with using fiber technology, so in combination with Bill’s previous experience and proposal, we selected to move forward with exploring this technology,” Cavanna said.

After several years of testing and demonstrations, the DUNE collaboration approved the technology, and work began at CERN and Fermilab on prototypes. At that point, other institutions, including SD Mines and Stony Brook University in New York, became involved in the construction, quality control and installation of the power-over-fiber technology.

Going to extremes

To study neutrino interactions, DUNE will use liquid-argon time projection chamber technology. At room temperature argon is a gas, so for argon to reach its liquid state, it must be chilled below minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 184 degrees Celsius). Such extreme temperatures make it essential for researchers to find new ways to power the photon detectors.

“Particles generated after a neutrino interacts with an argon atom in the detector produce ionization electrons and scintillation light,” Martinez explained at SD Mines. “To detect the scintillation light, the photon detectors need to be powered while immersed in liquid argon. With these challenges in mind, we pursued a novel application of power-over-fiber technology.”

According to Pellico, the technology has strengths that prove especially useful where electronics in contact with high voltages need to be isolated from their surroundings.

“Optical fibers have previously been used at very low temperatures, such as in space applications or quantum computing experiments, so this is not new,” Pellico noted. “However, their use for carrying high-intensity photon power in a cryogenic application is novel.”

This innovative use of power-over-fiber technology allows the photon detectors to operate reliably in liquid argon and the high-voltage conditions of DUNE’s detectors. In addition to the temperature, the sheer size of DUNE’s detectors also pose a challenge. At nearly six stories tall and more than 72 yards long, scintillation light produced far from the photon detectors may not be collected. To improve light collection efficiency, researchers plan to increase photon detector coverage in parts of the detector that were not previously considered because of high-voltage environment. Increasing light collection will improve the ability to study neutrinos from supernovae and solar neutrinos and could help scientists search for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

“So, how do you enhance the monitoring of interactions occurring inside the detector? We needed a system that allows us to place more photon detectors,” Pellico said. “The power-over-fiber technology would allow researchers to better analyze those interactions that would perhaps otherwise go undetected by having the ability to place more detectors.”

After a three-year effort of experimentation and working with different vendors, the power-over-fiber team was able to develop a system that could work at extremely cold temperatures and provide the DUNE researchers the line-of-sight they needed.

“We ended up working with a vendor that was able to obtain up to 55% optical to electrical power conversion efficiency under cryogenic conditions, so we can use this efficient system to power photon detectors,” Pellico said. “We now have a way to place photon detectors anywhere in the detector.”

Launch-ready technology

Importantly, this power-over-fiber technology is being treated as “launch technology.”

“Just like launching a system into space, once the technology is deployed inside the detectors, it is expected to be operational for the entirety of those detectors’ lifetimes,” Pellico said. “Repairs are not feasible.”

Unlike conventional copper cables, power-over-fiber components such as lasers, fibers and optical power converters are very delicate. This could mean that, if not carefully handled during installation, issues could arise during assembly of the DUNE far detector. To ensure success, Martinez and his team at SD Mines have engaged in significant testing and planning in advance of installation. Due to the customization of the technology, all the components must be inspected and qualified — not only at room temperature but also at cryogenic temperatures.

“To characterize how the power-over-fiber system works in cryogenic conditions, we built a long-term test here at SD Mines,” said Jairo Rodriguez, a graduate student in Martinez’s group.

“We send laser light through a fiber to an optical power converter that is inside a dewar [an insulated storage container] filled with liquid nitrogen, and we monitor its voltage to check proper system behavior,” added Denis Torres, a graduate student also working in the group.

It was very exciting to see this milestone, not just for DUNE, but for the high-energy physics community as well.”

This testing has been running for over two years and the system has remained operational, with data demonstrating the stability of the system. “We are monitoring the system every day and determine if there are any variations and where these could come from,” Denis said.

Diana Leon, a graduate student in the SD Mines group, traveled to CERN in 2023 and 2024 to help lead in the installation of the power-over-fiber system for ProtoDUNE, a prototype of the DUNE detector. Commissioning and operation of the power-over-fiber technology followed in 2025. This test was critical for determining how effectively it can be applied in a large-scale detector prototype. After commissioning, and prior to the start of operation, the team anxiously watched as the detector was powered up.

As they had hoped, all of the photon detectors activated and functioned according to plan. “When all of the photon detectors were turned on, we were so happy to see the power-over-fiber technology working after many years of work,” Leon recalled.

“When we clicked that button in 2025, all the channels were working just like the light bulb in your room,” Cavanna recalled. “In one click, they didn’t blink or have any faults. It’s been a year and there’s been no failure.”

“It is one of the greatest memories I’ve had in my entire life,” Cavanna added.

“I was here in South Dakota when the photon detectors on the prototype detector at CERN turned on,” added Martinez. “I received a text message early in the morning that read, ‘It works!’ It was very exciting to see this milestone, not just for DUNE, but for the high-energy physics community as well.”

Diana will soon be traveling to CERN again, this time to practice the mechanical integration of power-over-fiber technology. The work will occur at CERN on a mock-up detector, which will be the same height as the actual DUNE detector.

Martinez emphasized the importance of the close collaboration of his group with Fermilab and is also proud of the work the power-over-fiber team at SD Mines has accomplished for DUNE. “The students are involved in the entire process,” he said. “They had the opportunity to put their hands on it, installing and operating power-over-fiber technology and closely collaborating with experts at Fermilab. All the team here, including undergraduate and graduate students, the postdoctoral researcher, and Connie Krosschell, our department secretary, have a role to play. So, everyone has their own contribution, but we pull together as a team.”

Benefits beyond DUNE

Biswaranjan Behera, a former postdoctoral researcher who worked with both Pellico and Martinez and is currently a Ramanujan Fellow at the Center for High Energy Physics at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, noted that power-over-fiber technology at cryogenic temperatures could be used far beyond high-energy particle physics experiments.

“With innovative technologies working together, including the novel implementation of power-over-fiber, DUNE has strong potential for groundbreaking discoveries,” Behera said. “But, also, we are working on a new application of the technology for use in other cryogenic environments.”

“The DUNE future is bright, and we are making engineering advances and developing tools necessary for cutting-edge neutrino research.”

Certain sectors of the economy, such as quantum computing, data centers and space exploration stand to benefit from this technology. Power over fiber technology offers low noise, superior isolation, optimal efficiency and is immune to electromagnetic interference, while also performing reliably at cryogenic temperatures.

“This can be used in any type of system where it’s cold and you want to monitor what’s going on,” Pellico said. “Electronics become more efficient at cryogenic temperatures, creating opportunities for AI data centers to operate in extreme cold with improved energy efficiency.”

Ultimately, the advancements made for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment are paving the way for a more integrated, high-tech future. “The DUNE future is bright, and we are making engineering advances and developing tools necessary for cutting-edge neutrino research,” Behera added. “In addition, with artificial intelligence already widely employed in DUNE, great things are on the horizon.”