DE-FOA-0003253.000001.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)

OFFICE OF SCIENCE (SC)

ACCELERATOR R&D AND PRODUCTION (ARDAP)

FY2024 RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN ACCELERATOR

STEWARDSHIP AND ACCELERATOR DEVELOPMENT

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) NUMBER:

DE-FOA-0003253

FOA TYPE: AMENDMENT 000001

CFDA NUMBER: 81.049

Amendment 000001 is issued to revise the instructions for current and pending support

FOA Issue Date: January 9, 2024 Submission Deadline for Pre-Applications: February 6, 2024, at 5:00 PM Eastern

Time A Pre-Application is required

Pre-Application Response Date: February 20, 2024 Submission Deadline for Applications: March 19, 2024, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Table of Contents

SECTION I – FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

ACCELERATOR STEWARDSHIP

TRACK 1: ACCELERATOR STEWARDSHIP TOPICAL AREAS

TRACK 2: LONG-TERM GENERIC ACCELERATOR R&D

TRACK 3: ACCELERATOR STEWARDSHIP TEST FACILITY PROGRAM

ACCELERATOR DEVELOPMENT

TRACK 4: ACCELERATOR-TECHNOLOGY SECTOR PRODUCTION ENHANCEMENT

SECTION II – AWARD INFORMATION

II.A. TYPE OF AWARD INSTRUMENT

II.B. ESTIMATED FUNDING

II.C. MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM AWARD SIZE

II.D. EXPECTED NUMBER OF AWARDS

II.E. ANTICIPATED AWARD SIZE

II.F. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

II.G. TYPE OF APPLICATION

SECTION III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

III.A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

III.B. COST SHARING AND INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENTS

III.C. ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS

III.D. LIMITATIONS ON SUBMISSIONS

SECTION IV – APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

IV.A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

IV.B. LETTER OF INTENT (LOI) AND PRE-APPLICATION

IV.C. GRANTS.GOV APPLICATION SUBMISSION AND RECEIPT PROCEDURES

IV.D. CONTENT AND APPLICATION FORMS

IV.E. SUBMISSIONS FROM SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS

IV.F. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

SECTION V - APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

V.A. CRITERIA

V.B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

V.C. ANTICIPATED NOTICE OF SELECTION AND AWARD DATES

SECTION VI – AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

VI.A. AWARD NOTICES

VI.B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

VI.C. REPORTING

VI.D. REPORTING OF MATTERS RELATED TO RECIPIENT INTEGRITY AND

PERFORMANCE (DECEMBER 2015)

VI.E. INTERIM CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE...71

SECTION VII - QUESTIONS/AGENCY CONTACTS

VII.A. QUESTIONS

VII.B. AGENCY CONTACTS

SECTION VIII – SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

VIII.A. HOW-TO GUIDES

VIII.B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

VIII.C. REFERENCE MATERIAL

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UPDATES AND REMINDERS

RECOMMENDATION

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) encourages you to register in all systems as soon as possible. You are also encouraged to submit letters of intent (LOIs), pre-applications, and applications well before the deadline.

INFORMATIONAL WEBINAR AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS DOCUMENT

SC plans to hold an informational webinar about this FOA, and a “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQs) document will be posted. The FAQs document, webinar date, registration instructions and other details will be posted at https://science.osti.gov/ardap/Funding-Opportunities.

PROMOTING INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE RESEARCH (PIER) PLAN

All new and renewal applications must provide a Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan as an appendix to the project narrative. Please read the instructions in Section IV and the associated review criteria in Section V, and review the resources for constructing a PIER plan found at https://science.osti.gov/grants/Applicant-and-Awardee-Resources/PIER- Plans/Information-about-PIER-Plans.

INTERAGENCY FORMATS FOR CURRENT AND PENDING SUPPORT AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Interagency common instructions for preparing current and pending support and biographical sketches are being developed. The Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) system at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/ will be updated to support the forthcoming common instructions and formats. The fillable PDFs provided by the National Science Foundation at https://nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/nsfapprovedformats/ are no longer available. When interagency common formats and instructions are promulgated, their use will be required. SC strongly encourages all researchers to use the online SciENcv system to ensure that their documents are prepared in the appropriate format with the least inconvenience.

INDIVIDUALS WHO SHOULD NOT SERVE AS MERIT REVIEWERS

Follow the updated instructions in Section VIII and consider the use of the Collaborator Template available at https://science.osti.gov/grants/Policy-and-Guidance/Agreement-Forms. Do not include this list as part of the biographical sketch.

LIVING WAGES

SC is committed to ensuring that students, trainees, and postdoctoral fellows are paid a fair and equitable wage sufficient to allow a reasonable standard of living. Applicant institutions are strongly encouraged to examine their institutional pay scales to ensure that all personnel earn a living wage. The provision of fellowships, traineeships, stipends, honoraria, subsistence allowances, and other similar payments may be allowable expenses on SC financial assistance https://science.osti.gov/ardap/Funding-Opportunities https://science.osti.gov/grants/Applicant-and-Awardee-Resources/PIER-Plans/Information-about-PIER-Plans https://science.osti.gov/grants/Applicant-and-Awardee-Resources/PIER-Plans/Information-about-PIER-Plans https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/ https://nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/nsfapprovedformats/biosketch.pdf https://science.osti.gov/grants/Policy-and-Guidance/Agreement-Forms ii awards, per 2 CFR 200.430, § 200.431, and § 200.466. For graduate students, SC considers a reasonable living wage to be an annual income of $45,000, excluding benefits.

SC STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT

The DOE SC is fully and unconditionally committed to fostering safe, diverse, equitable, and inclusive work, research, and funding environments that value mutual respect and personal integrity. SC is committed to advancing belonging, accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion across the portfolio of activities we sponsor. SC’s effective stewardship and promotion of safe, accessible, diverse, and inclusive workplaces that value and celebrate the diversity of people, ideas, cultures, and educational backgrounds across the country and that foster a sense of belonging in our scientific community is foundational to delivering on our mission. We are committed to promoting people from all backgrounds, including individuals and communities that were historically underrepresented and minoritized in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and the activities we sponsor in recognition of our responsibility to serve the public. We also recognize that harnessing a broad range of views, expertise, and experiences drives scientific and technological innovation and enables the SC community to push the frontiers of scientific knowledge for U.S. prosperity and security. Discrimination and harassment undermine SC’s ability to achieve its mission by reducing productivity, discouraging, or inhibiting talent retention and career advancement, and weakening the integrity of the SC enterprise overall. SC does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, including sexual or non-sexual harassment, bullying, intimidation, violence, threats of violence, retaliation, or other disruptive behavior at institutions receiving SC funding or other locations where activities funded by SC are carried out. All applicants and collaborators should familiarize themselves with the SC Statement of Commitment available at https://science.osti.gov/SW- DEI/SC-Statement-of-Commitment.

UPDATING YOUR PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (PAMS) PROFILE

All applicants are encouraged to update their profiles in the PAMS website at https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov regularly, at least annually, to ensure SC has your most up to date information. The PAMS profile now requires that individuals provide responses to the demographic related fields. SC strongly encourages personnel at applicant and recipient institutions, including Principal Investigators (PIs), Co-PIs, and other Key Personnel, to provide their demographic information. By providing your demographic information, you are assisting with SC’s continued commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in its business practices. Alternatively, for information you wish not to disclose, please select, “Do not wish to provide.” Your individual demographic information will not be shared with peer reviewers and the information in your PAMS profile is protected by the requirements established in the Federal Privacy Act of 1974. Aggregate, anonymized demographic information may be shared with confidential review committees who are charged with evaluating the quality and efficacy of SC’s business practices. For example, summary statistics of all applicants to or award selections from a particular SC FOA may be reviewed by a Committee of Visitors.

https://science.osti.gov/SW-DEI/SC-Statement-of-Commitment https://science.osti.gov/SW-DEI/SC-Statement-of-Commitment https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/ iii

PORTABLE DOCUMENT FORMAT (PDF) GENERATION

The project narrative in an application must be one single machine-readable PDF file that contains the DOE Title Page, project narrative, all required appendices, and other attachments.

This single PDF file may not be scanned from a printed document and must be attached in Field 8 on the Grants.gov form. This must be a plain PDF file consisting of text, numbers, and images without editable fields, signatures, passwords, redactions, or other advanced features available in some PDF-compatible software. The project narrative will be read by SC staff using the full version of Adobe Acrobat: Please ensure that the narrative is readable in Acrobat. If combining multiple files into one research narrative, ensure that a PDF portfolio or binder is not created. If creating PDF files using any software other than Adobe Acrobat, please use a “Print to PDF” or equivalent process to ensure that all content is visible in the project narrative. Once a project narrative has been assembled, please submit the combined project narrative file through a “Print to PDF” or equivalent process to ensure that all content is visible in one PDF file that can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat. Review your submission to ensure that blank pages are not present.

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Checklist for Avoiding Common Errors:

Item Issue Applications Submitted in Grants.gov. Do not submit applications in PAMS or FedConnect.

Grants.gov Submission Ensure that applications are submitted under the correct Opportunity Number.

Standard Form (SF)-424 Research and Related (R&R):

- Attach nothing to field 20

- Attach nothing to field 21

SF-424 Research and Related Other Project Information form:

- Attach the abstract to field 7

- Attach the project narrative, with all appendices, to field 8

- Attach nothing to field 9

- Attach nothing to field 10

- Attach nothing to field 11

- Attach the list of individuals who should not serve as merit reviewers (Collaborator Template) to field 12

- Do not attach other files to field 12

- NOTE: Files attached to field 12 will not be shared with merit reviewers.

Pre-Applications

- Submit your pre-application in PAMS.

- Do not submit your pre-application in Grants.gov.

- Do not attach your pre-application to the SF- 424 Research and Related (R&R) form.

- Follow the instructions in Section IV for the preparation of a pre-application.

Page Limits Strictly followed throughout application, including particular attention to:

- Project narrative and appendices

- Biographical sketches

- Data Management Plans (DMPs)

- Promoting Inclusive and Equitable

Research (PIER) Plan

- Letter(s) of Collaboration or Access, if any Personally Identifiable Information None present in the application v

Item Issue Project Narrative Composed of one PDF file including all appendices (bibliography, facilities, equipment, DMP, PIER)

Project Summary / Abstract Name of PI, PI’s institutional affiliation(s), Co-Investigator(s), Co-Investigator’s institutional affiliation(s)

DOE Title Page Follow instructions closely Budget Use current negotiated indirect cost and fringe benefit rates Budget Justification (attached to budget) Justify all requested costs Biographical Sketches Follow page limits strictly and do not include list of collaborators. Attach the biographical sketch to the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Form.

Current and Pending Support Ensure complete listing of all activities, regardless of source of funding. Attach the current and pending support to the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Form.

List of Individuals who Should not Serve as Merit Reviews

Attach to field 12 of the SF-424 Research and Related Other Project Information form.

Data Management Plans (DMP) - If referring to an experiment’s DMP, describe the relationship to the proposed research.

- Include a DMP even if no experimental data is expected.

Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan

PIER Plans are required for new and renewal applications.

Institutions capable of being funded through the DOE Field Work System

If National Laboratories and/or DOE sites are permitted to submit under this FOA:

- Do not create new institutions in the

PAMS website.

- Submit applications in Grants.gov using the name of the laboratory or site in Field 5 of the SF-424(R&R) application form, not the contractor operating the laboratory or site.

Submissions under this FOA will be evaluated for technical merit, but any resulting funding, work, or awards will be made under the laboratory or site’s contract with DOE. No separate financial assistance awards will be made. No administrative provisions of this FOA will apply to the laboratory or any laboratory subcontractor.

Section I – FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

GENERAL INQUIRIES ABOUT THIS FOA SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO:

Technical/Scientific Program Contacts:

Accelerator Stewardship Program (Tracks 1, 2, and 3) Dr. Eric R. Colby 301-903-5475 Eric.Colby@science.doe.gov

Accelerator Development Program (Tracks 4a and 4b) Dr. Camille M. Ginsburg Camille.Ginsburg@science.doe.gov

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

Section 646 of Public Law 95-91, U.S. Department of Energy Organization Act Section 901, et seq. of Public Law 109-58, Energy Policy Act of 2005 Section 10109 of Public Law 117-167, CHIPS and Science Act of 2022

APPLICABLE REGULATIONS

Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, codified at 2 CFR 200 U.S. Department of Energy Financial Assistance Rules, codified at 2 CFR 910 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Rule, codified at 10

CFR 605

SUMMARY

The DOE SC program in Accelerator Research and Development and Production (ARDAP) hereby announces its interest in applications to conduct cross-cutting use-inspired basic research and development (R&D) to advance accelerator science and technology (AS&T) and domestic supplier development that supports SC’s activities in physical sciences research, and which is of broader benefit to other U.S. government agencies and industry. Please note that this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is for cross-cutting R&D and domestic supplier development and that program-specific AS&T R&D is supported though FOAs issued by each SC program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The following program description is offered to provide more in-depth information on the scientific and technical areas of interest to the ARDAP program.

ARDAP’s mission is to support cross-cutting AS&T R&D, use-inspired technology development of relevance to many fields, domestic accelerator technology supplier development, and dissemination of accelerator knowledge and training to the broad community of accelerator users mailto:Eric.Colby@science.doe.gov and providers. (More information is available at the program website:

https://science.osti.gov/ARDAP). In the interest of fostering a rich ecosystem of R&D performers and domestic technology suppliers, applications from Minority Serving Institutions1, Emerging Research Institutions2, and institutions with no prior DOE or ARDAP funding are encouraged.

Many federal agencies have a vested interest in the success of accelerator R&D. In addition to the Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), High Energy Physics (HEP), Nuclear Physics (NP), and Isotope Production (IP) programs within SC, stakeholders include the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the DOE Environmental Management Program Office (EM), the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), the Department of Defense (DOD) Office of Naval Research (ONR), the DOD Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Radiation Effects & Analysis Group, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Ionizing Radiation Physics Division, among others. Applicants are advised to learn about the missions of these agencies.

Please note that this FOA is only for cross-cutting R&D opportunities within the ARDAP mission, meaning that R&D proposals must have a recognized impact on more than one of the programs listed above. The SC programs in BES, FES, HEP, NP, and IP routinely issue separate FOAs for programmatic accelerator research and development aimed at developing technologies for facilities needed by their respective programs.

Program Objectives

ARDAP’s program includes two mission areas: Accelerator Stewardship and Accelerator

1 MSIs are understood broadly to include, but not be limited to, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Asian American Native American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions. The U.S. Department of Education list of HBCUs in 2022 can be found at:

https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/. The U.S.

Department of Education maintains records of institutions eligible for recognition as MSIs at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/eligibility.html. For the purposes of this FOA, institutions marked in the most recent eligibility matrix as either being eligible to receive funding or as receiving funding will be considered an MSI. These resources are not an exhaustive list.

2 Emerging Research Institutions are understood to include those with High Research Activity (i.e., an “R2” classification) according to the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education, which can be found at https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/. A list of institutions with very high research activity (R1 institutions) is available at https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/lookup/srp.php?clq=%7B%22basic2005_ids%22%3A%2215%22%7D&st art_page=standard.php&backurl=standard.php&limit=0,50. A list of institutions with high research activity (R2 institutions) is available at https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/lookup/srp.php?clq=%7B%22basic2005_ids%22%3A%2216%22%7D&st art_page=standard.php&backurl=standard.php&limit=0,50.

https://science.osti.gov/ARDAP https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/ https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/eligibility.html https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/ https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/lookup/srp.php?clq=%7B%22basic2005_ids%22%3A%2215%22%7D&start_page=standard.php&backurl=standard.php&limit=0,50 https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/lookup/srp.php?clq=%7B%22basic2005_ids%22%3A%2215%22%7D&start_page=standard.php&backurl=standard.php&limit=0,50 https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/lookup/srp.php?clq=%7B%22basic2005_ids%22%3A%2216%22%7D&start_page=standard.php&backurl=standard.php&limit=0,50 https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/lookup/srp.php?clq=%7B%22basic2005_ids%22%3A%2216%22%7D&start_page=standard.php&backurl=standard.php&limit=0,50

Development. Accelerator Stewardship was established in 2014, and Accelerator Development was established in 2022. Accelerator Stewardship is aimed at use-inspired basic R&D and cross-cutting basic R&D to test new applications of accelerator technology, with a goal of up to TRL-43, but no explicit MRL4 goal. Accelerator Development is aimed at strengthening domestic suppliers of critical accelerator technology, with a goal of up to TRL-6 and MRL-5 to -7.

Table 1: Summary of FOA Tracks, Aims, Funding Amounts, Eligibility, and Requirements

Application Track

Aim TRL Goal

MRL

Goal

Typical Award

Applicant Eligibility

Teaming Voluntary Cost

Commitment

Application Length

A cc el er at or

St ew ar ds hi p Track 1 Use-inspired basic R&D ≤TRL-4 None $2M/ 3 yrs All domestic Required Strongly Encouraged 16 pages

Track 2 Cross-cutting basic R&D ≤TRL-4 None $0.5M/ 3 yrs Domestic universities Encouraged Encouraged 16 pages

Track 3 DOE Test Facility Access for R&D ≤TRL-4 None $300k/ 1 yr

Non-DOE domestic entities

Required Encouraged 5 pages

A cc el er at or

D ev el op m en t

Track 4a R&D leading to Strategic Plans planning planning $200k/ 1 yr All domestic Required Encouraged 6 pages

Track 4b R&D Partnerships with private sector ≤TRL-6 ≤MRL-7 $2M/ 2 yrs Domestic companies Required Strongly

Encouraged 18 pages

Accelerator Stewardship

The central goals of Accelerator Stewardship are to:

• Engage the expertise and facilities of the existing U.S. accelerator R&D ecosystem in a manner that enhances the ability of research sponsors to support innovative concepts;

• Enhance the accelerator technology capabilities of U.S. industry;

• Facilitate access to the accelerator R&D capabilities at the SC National Laboratories5

• Drive a limited number of specific accelerator applications towards practical, testable prototypes in a five to seven (5-7) year timeframe;

• Foster collaboration between developers of accelerator technology and experts who apply accelerator technology; and

• Provide the basic R&D foundation necessary for sustained innovation across a broad range of accelerator applications.

This section of the FOA focuses on the following three distinct activities:

3 TRL – Technology Readiness Level, for definitions see DOE G 413.3-4A Chg 1 (Admin Chg) (2015) https://www.directives.doe.gov/directives-documents/400-series/0413.3-EGuide-04-admchg1.

4 MRL – Manufacturing Readiness Level, for definitions see https://www.manufacturingusa.com/reports/national-network-manufacturing-innovation-preliminary-design.

5 SC sponsors ten of DOE’s National Laboratories: Ames Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Princeton Plasma National Laboratory, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The other DOE National Laboratories (Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Energy Technology Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Savannah River National Laboratory) are outside the scope of the Accelerator Stewardship program.

https://www.directives.doe.gov/directives-documents/400-series/0413.3-EGuide-04-admchg1 https://www.manufacturingusa.com/reports/national-network-manufacturing-innovation-preliminary-design https://www.manufacturingusa.com/reports/national-network-manufacturing-innovation-preliminary-design

1. Applied research6 that is focused on developing a prototype in response to a specific technical challenge.

2. Basic research that broadly impacts many accelerator applications.

3. Facilitating access to accelerator R&D capabilities at SC-sponsored National

Laboratories for basic R&D.

These activities are divided into three separate “Tracks” in this FOA. Applications must address a topic in one Track only. Topics may not be combined between Tracks as the application format, eligibility requirements, project duration, funding limitations, and merit criteria differ significantly.

Applicants are encouraged to review the Accelerator Stewardship Awards made to date at the webpage: https://science.osti.gov/ardap/Funding-Opportunities/Awarded-RD-Activities.

Applications that are intended to meet specific BES, FES, HEP, NP, or IP programmatic research needs should be submitted in response to the Funding Opportunity Announcements issued by those Offices. This FOA is for research that is cross-cutting (i.e., applicable to multiple Office of Science programs) only.

Applications that are not in direct support of a topic under the Tracks below (e.g., conferences, experimental operations, specific project R&D or fabrication) must be submitted to the FY 2023 Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program (DE-FOA- 0002844).

Track 1: Accelerator Stewardship Topical Areas

Accelerator Stewardship Topic Areas are focused R&D efforts aimed at solving a specific accelerator application problem in a specific area. The desired end goal after one to two (1-2) grant cycles (e.g., three to six (3-6) years) is a working prototype technology at TRL-4. This Track has broad eligibility requirements, see Section III.A for more information. Teams, comprising at a minimum an accelerator technology partner and an application partner, are expected to apply in this area, and develop an application that clearly defines the technology development pathway, teaming and management plan, IP allocation, and market opportunity (where applicable).

Applicants must provide evidence of the Stewardship Customer’s7 commitment to the proposed activity. This commitment may take the form of uncompensated effort; the provision of surplus

6 The term “applied research” is used here in a manner consistent with colloquial usage in the field of accelerator R&D, referring to research that is in the early stages of development (Technology Readiness Level [TRL] 1-4) and encompasses work leading to a first prototype that demonstrates scientific feasibility. It does not include R&D leading to a demonstration of suitability for a particular application nor does it include R&D supporting commercialization of a product. In the context of DOE’s authorizing legislation all work supported here is of a basic or fundamental nature.

7 “Stewardship Customer”, or more generically, “stakeholder” is defined and examples of evidence of support are given in Section V.A.2.

https://science.osti.gov/ardap/Funding-Opportunities/Awarded-RD-Activities materials, supplies, or equipment; the provision of access to facilities at no or reduced cost;

voluntary cost sharing; mentoring, training, or coaching of personnel; or other methods of involving the Stewardship Customer in the proposed activity. See Section III.B for more information.

The following are four topic areas active in Track 1 of this FOA:

a) Particle Therapy Beam Delivery Improvements.

b) Ultrafast Laser Technology Program.

c) High Power Electron Accelerator Technology for Industrial Applications.

d) Compact Accelerator Technologies for Security and Medicine.

Applications submitted under Track 1 should address specific research goals in only one of these topical areas.

In addition to the standard merit criteria applied to all scientific applications, applications submitted under Track 1 will be specifically reviewed for (1) the strength and breadth of the collaborative team and (2) the quality of the technology R&D plan. See Section V.A.2 for a description of the Merit Review Criteria, and Section V.B.2 for a description of the selection criteria.

(a) Particle Therapy Beam Delivery Improvements

Technical Contact: Eric Colby, 301-903-5475, Eric.Colby@science.doe.gov

Even with less than fully optimized treatment techniques, there have been reports of impressive local control rates using particle beam therapy for otherwise difficult-to-treat cancers. Although lower-cost proton beam options are starting to appear, today’s proton beam facilities are costly to build and thus are not widely available. Based on their potential biological advantage, there is now increasing medical interest in exploring the use of other light ions for therapy; typically, beams up to carbon are considered.

While beam delivery (“gantry”) systems for proton beams have been designed and constructed previously, they are typically large, massive, and costly. Accommodating heavier beams, up to carbon, with similar technology requires delivery systems that are even more massive.

Short dose deposition times, on the order of seconds, will require fast and efficient scanning in all three spatial dimensions. This will place new demands on the accelerator, beam line and detector systems to guide and verify dose placement.

Applications in this topical area should address ideas for providing one or more of the following:

1. less massive and more compact beam delivery systems capable of delivering ion beams from protons up to carbon that are suitable for patient therapy;

2. technology that can provide for rapid (seconds) scanning of the beam over a tumor volume in three dimensions (that is: both transversely and longitudinally);

3. beam diagnostic technologies for ion beam therapy, with emphasis on increased readout speed and accuracy of position and dose.

To meet the teaming requirement, applications under this Track 1 topic area are strongly encouraged to include significant participation from all three of the following: (1) an institution with technical leadership in a relevant accelerator technology, (2) a medical institution with clinical experience in imaging and treatment for external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), and (3) a domestic company currently manufacturing EBRT products. Applications lacking significant participation from any of the three may score poorly under merit review.

The Particle Therapy Beam Delivery Improvements program of this FOA does not request designs for accelerators themselves but covers only ancillary devices that work in conjunction with an accelerator. Applications to design an accelerator or accelerator complex are outside the scope of this FOA, and such application will be declined without review. Designs that are independent of the proton or ion beam accelerator, such that they can work with more than one type of accelerator, are preferred.

Further, applications on beam diagnostic technologies for ion beam therapy are limited to diagnostics applied to the charged particle beam prior to its exit from the nozzle. Imaging technologies downstream of the nozzle, radiobiological studies, and clinical studies are supported by the National Cancer Institute, and applications in any of these topic areas will be declined without review.

Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to review the report of the workshop on Ion Beam Therapy, held January 9-11, 2013. The report provides an overview of the technical issues and required R&D to develop accelerator technologies for ion beam treatment of cancer. The report is available online at https://science.osti.gov/-/media/hep/pdf/accelerator-rd-stewardship/Workshop_on_Ion_Beam_Therapy_Report_Final_R1.pdf.

(b) Ultrafast Laser Technology Program

Lasers are used or proposed for use in many areas of scientific research: as spectroscopic sources, pump-probe sources, drivers for electron, ion, and x-ray sources, as drivers for novel accelerator concepts for future colliders; as generators of electromagnetic radiation ranging from THz to gamma rays. In many cases, ultrafast lasers with pulse lengths well below a picosecond are required, with excellent stability, reliability, and beam quality. With scientific applications demanding ever-higher fluxes of particles and radiation, greater precision and control over field and optical phase, and wider wavelength coverage, the driving laser technology must also evolve to meet the demand.

These applications have some general technological requirements in common which include the following:

• Ultrafast pulses (<1 ps).

• High average powers (>10s of W up to 100 kW or more).

• Diffraction limited beams.

https://science.osti.gov/-/media/hep/pdf/accelerator-rd-stewardship/Workshop_on_Ion_Beam_Therapy_Report_Final_R1.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/hep/pdf/accelerator-rd-stewardship/Workshop_on_Ion_Beam_Therapy_Report_Final_R1.pdf

• Good (ps) to excellent (fs) pulse timing, sometimes with carrier-envelope phase (CEP) control.

• Robust and reliable operation.

Many important applications also require, or can benefit from the following:

• High pulse energy (>0.01 J up to 1 kJ).

• High pre-pulse power contrast (better than 10-5).

• High wall plug efficiency (>20% with a goal of 30% or higher).

• Longer laser wavelengths (>1.5 µm out to 10 µm).

The primary goals of the Ultrafast Laser Technology Program are to develop the enabling technologies that will ultimately lead to construction of demonstration prototypes for one or more of the principal types of ultrafast lasers needed for scientific applications, and to enhance industry’s capability to produce the necessary technologies.

Ultrafast lasers for accelerator applications fall into three broad laser types:

• Type I laser systems are high-repetition rate systems that are used to perform high-resolution and high-fidelity measurements, particularly for applications to chemical sensing and spectroscopy, excitation and probing of small-cross-section and stochastic processes, ultrafast electron dynamics, electron beam based cooling schemes, and high-current sources of polarized electrons and positrons.

• Type II laser systems are high-average power lasers used to excite plasma waves for particle trapping and high gradient acceleration, and for the generation of x-rays through High Harmonic Generation (HHG) and/or Laser Wakefield Acceleration.

• Type III laser systems are ultrafast laser systems used for generating high repetition rate radiation pulses through nonlinear processes, particularly HHG and THz generation.

The target performance parameters for each of the three ultrafast laser types are summarized in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2: Target performance parameters for each of the three laser types.

Type I:

High-repetition rate laser

Type II:

High-average power laser

Type III:

Few-cycle laser

Pulse peak power >1 kW 10 ‒ 300 TW 1 ‒ 10 TW Wavelength 0.8 ‒ 10 µm 0.5 ‒ 10 µm 2 ‒ 5 µm Pulse Energy n.c. 1 ‒ 10 J 10 ‒ 100 mJ Pulse Length n.c. 30 ‒ 100 fs[1] few-cycle Repetition Rate 0.1 ‒ 1 GHz 1 ‒ 10 kHz > 100 kHz Average Power 10 ‒ 100 W 1 ‒ 100 kW 50 ‒ 500 W Energy Stability <1% <1% <0.5% Beam Quality Strehl > 0.95 (Strehl > 0.95)[1] Strehl > 0.95

Wall-plug Efficiency n.c.

>10% for <10kW >20% for >10kW n.c.

Pre-pulse contrast n.c. >10^5 n.c.

Time window for pre-pulse n.c. ns ‒ ps n.c.

Phase stability if CEP locked < 100 mrad Optional, < 300 mrad < 100 mrad

Pointing stability n.c. < 0.1 µrad n.c.

Bandwidth n.c. Transform-limited n.c.

n.c. – not critical, can be freely determined from other specifications in the table [1] requirement applies to lasers at 1-2 micron wavelength, with scaled requirements for longer wavelengths

This initial phase of the Laser Technology Program will concentrate on basic research and engineering design studies to produce the breakthroughs in technology and design architecture necessary to make each of the three laser types practical. Applications are sought in these five topical areas:

(1) Ultrafast gain materials capable of very high average power. Development of materials suitable for fiber or bulk usage, supporting amplification of <100 fs pulses, with excellent thermal conductivity, low thermal lensing, low saturation fluence, high damage threshold and small quantum defect will be key to increasing average power capabilities of ultrafast lasers.

Materials must be scalable to average powers in the kilowatt range and above while maintaining excellent beam quality.

(2) Increased robustness and reduction in size of optical components. Each will reduce the cost of ultrafast laser systems. Development of ultrafast optical coatings and materials capable of supporting <100 fs laser pulses with significantly increased damage threshold, excellent thermal stability, and low loss and low scatter will permit more compact, higher reliability ultrafast lasers to be developed.

(3) Innovations in laser architectures, cryogenics, and other advanced thermal management techniques. Direct diode pumping, coherent combination, hybrid fiber/bulk systems, and the use of advanced cryogenic systems will be needed to significantly increase the average power performance of ultrafast lasers.

(4) Wavelength extension further into the infrared. The development of efficient, robust, cost-effective ultrafast laser systems out to 10 microns in wavelength will enable new applications such as solid-state seeding for ultrafast CO2 lasers and driving HHG hard x-ray generators, as well as open new opportunities in plasma acceleration and high harmonic generation. Significant increases in repetition rate are needed to achieve high average power.

(5) Improvements in laser quality. Advances in pulse contrast, optical phase noise, flexible pulse shaping (both transverse and longitudinal), and precision synchronization to external references will directly impact both the quality and capability of the laser-based sciences.

The Ultrafast Laser Technology Program of this FOA includes initial R&D to identify promising technical avenues for developing ultrafast lasers of the three types discussed above. It does not include the engineering and construction of full-scale demonstration laser systems for any of the three types during this initial phase. Applications to develop full-scale demonstration laser systems are out of the scope of this FOA and will be declined without review.

encouraged to include significant participation from each of the following: (1) an institution with technical leadership in a relevant laser technology, and (2) an institution with technical leadership in the application of laser technology to accelerators and/or (3) a domestic company currently marketing related laser products. Applications lacking significant participation from a laser technology or accelerator technology partner, or an industry partner, may score poorly under merit review.

Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to review the report of the last two workshops on Laser Technology. These reports provide an overview of the technical issues and required R&D to develop ultrafast laser technology for scientific applications.

1) 2023 Basic Research Needs Workshop on Laser Technology: https://science.osti.gov/- /media/ardap/pdf/2024/Laser-Technology-Workshop-Report_20240105_final.pdf

2) 2013 Lasers for Accelerator Workshop Report:

https://science.osti.gov/~/media/hep/pdf/accelerator-rd-stewardship/Lasers_for_Accelerators_Report_Final.pdf.

(c) High-Power Electron Accelerator Technology for Industrial Applications Technical Contact: Eric Colby, (301)-903-5475, Eric.Colby@science.doe.gov

Particle accelerator technologies have been applied to solve a range of issues in the energy & environmental (E&E) area including: treating potable and wastewater, removing pollutants from stack gases, increasing the energy efficiency of industrial material processing, remediating water-borne and soil-borne contaminants, and replacing radioactive sources in sterilization applications. In many cases the use of accelerator technology for these applications offers important performance advantages. Some of these energy and environmental applications are currently served by existing non-accelerator-based technologies; however, continued improvements in accelerator technology has lowered the cost and increased the reliability of this technology, opening the possibility of broader use in energy and environmental applications.

These applications have some general technological requirements in common which include the following:

• The need to expose significant mass streams to kGy-class radiation fields, requiring:

o Very high average beam powers (>500 kW up to 10 MW) o High wallplug efficiency (>50%)

• The need to operate economically in harsh industrial environments:

o Low capital and operating costs o Robust, reliable, turn-key operation

The primary goals of the High-Power Electron Accelerator Technology program are to develop the enabling technologies that may ultimately lead to construction of demonstration prototypes for one or more of the principal types of high-power electron accelerators needed for E&E applications, and to enhance industry’s capability to produce the necessary technologies.

The general requirements for high power electron accelerators for E&E applications were identified at a workshop (see references below) and can be divided into four basic types of accelerators, summarized in Table 3 below.

https://science.osti.gov/-/media/ardap/pdf/2024/Laser-Technology-Workshop-Report_20240105_final.pdf https://science.osti.gov/-/media/ardap/pdf/2024/Laser-Technology-Workshop-Report_20240105_final.pdf https://science.osti.gov/%7E/media/hep/pdf/accelerator-rd-stewardship/Lasers_for_Accelerators_Report_Final.pdf https://science.osti.gov/%7E/media/hep/pdf/accelerator-rd-stewardship/Lasers_for_Accelerators_Report_Final.pdf

Table 3. Target performance for high-power electron accelerators for E&E applications:

Type 1

Demo/Small Scale Type 2 Medium Scale Low Energy

Type 3 Medium Scale High Energy

Type 4 Large Scale High Energy

Example Applications

R&D, Sterilization, industrial effluent streams

Flue Gas, Wastewater

Wastewater, sludge, medical waste

Sludge, Medical waste, Env.

remediation

Electron Beam Energy

0.5-1.5 MeV 1-2 MeV 10 MeV 10 MeV

Electron Beam Power (CW)

>0.5 MW >1 MW >1 MW >10 MW

Wall plug Efficiency

>50% >50% >50% >75%

Target Capital Cost*

<$10/W <$10/W <$10/W <$5/W

Target Operating Cost†

<1.0M$/yr <1.5M$/yr <1.5M$/yr <12M$/yr

*Total cost of the accelerator, including all supporting systems (e.g., power, cooling, control, safety).

†Total operating cost including all labor, supplies, repairs, and electricity costs.

• Demo or Small-Scale Systems are used for processing low-density material streams (gas or liquid) in moderate quantities, such as industrial effluent streams at flows of order 0.1-0.2 MGD, depending on dose. (1 MGD=1 million gallons per day).

• Medium-Scale Low-Energy Systems are used for processing low-density material streams (gas or liquid) in high volumes, such as for electron beam treatment of flue gases at flow rates of 100,000-200,000 Nm3/hr, and wastewater treatment at flows of 1-1.5 MGD.

• Medium-Scale High-Energy Systems are used for processing high-density materials (solids and sludges) in moderate volumes, such as for medical waste sterilization and sludge treatment at mass flow rates of 20-70 kg/s.

• Large-Scale High-Energy Systems are proposed for use in processing large volumes of high-density materials, such as for environmental remediation of contaminated soil, medical waste sterilization, and sludge treatment at mass flow rates of 0.2-0.7 metric ton per second.

The High-Power Electron Accelerator Technology for Industrial Applications Program has completed a set of feasibility studies and will focus in this next phase on achieving the necessary advances in efficient Radio Frequency (rf) power production and low-cost accelerator structures.

Applications submitted under this topic are to be for multi-year use-inspired R&D concepts leading to achievement of the stated performance metrics. Applications which do not directly address all the metrics of the subtopic area will be declined without review.

a. High-Efficiency High-Average Power RF Sources. The very high-power accelerators required for energy and environmental applications will require highly efficient, low-cost sources of radiofrequency power. R&D to significantly improve the power efficiency of high-average-power (CW or high duty factor) radiofrequency tubes is sought. Net tube power efficiency (including focusing magnet power) must exceed 80%, and average tube power must exceed 250 kW, with a pulse format (peak power, pulse length) that is appropriate for either normal conducting or superconducting accelerators, and an output that is stably phase locked to an external reference. The proposed device must provide an economical route to producing 1 MW or more of average power by scaling, coherent combination, or both, at an rf tube cost that does not exceed $1.50 per watt of average power output. A detailed estimate of the tube’s production cost must be included in Appendix 6 to support claims that the cost metric will be met. There is particular interest in rf power sources operating at frequencies that are in widespread use at the large SC accelerators8.

b. Economical Accelerator Structures for Megawatt-Class Beams. Providing low-cost very high-power accelerators for energy and environmental applications will require advances in the design and manufacture of accelerator structures to increase performance and reduce cost.

R&D applications are sought for accelerator structures that are optimized for very high-power transfer efficiency into high beam currents and optimized for low production cost and low operation cost for industrial use. Proposed R&D must lead to an accelerator design and a single-unit prototype structure that meets one of the following sets of requirements:

i. superconducting radiofrequency, 1 MeV total voltage gain, 1 MW total power coupled to beam, 90% minimum rf-to-beam-power coupling efficiency, costing less than $1.50/watt fully dressed (including couplers, cryostat, cryocoolers, magnetic and thermal shields); or

ii. superconducting radiofrequency, 10 MeV total voltage gain, 1 MW total power coupled to beam, 90% minimum rf-to-beam-power coupling efficiency, costing less than $3.00/watt full dressed (including couplers, cryostat, cryocoolers, magnetic and thermal shields); or

iii. normal conducting radiofrequency, 1 MeV total voltage gain, 1 MW total power coupled to beam, 90% minimum rf-to-beam-power coupling efficiency, costing less than $0.50/watt fully dressed (including couplers, vacuum enclosure, cooling systems).

The voltage gain and coupled power requirements may be met by using multiple accelerating cavities, but the cost metric then applies to the entire system. A detailed estimate of the accelerator structure’s production cost must be included in Appendix 6 to support claims that the cost metric will be met. Note that in all cases, the cost metric does not include the cost of rf power generation and transmission to the accelerator, nor does it include peripheral systems such as the electron source, beam focusing and delivery, controls and diagnostics, shielding enclosures, etc. At a minimum, the prototype accelerator structure must be experimentally demonstrated to work at the required duty factor, at full accelerating voltage, without beam, but with performance characteristics that are consistent with accelerating 1 MW of beam. There is particular interest in rf accelerators operating at frequencies that are in widespread use at the large SC accelerators9.

The High-Power Electron Accelerator Technology program of this FOA includes initial R&D to identify promising technical avenues for developing very high-power electron accelerators of the four types discussed above. It does not include the engineering and construction of full-scale accelerator installations for any of the four types during this initial phase. Applications to develop a full-scale accelerator installation are out of the scope of this FOA and will be declined without review.

8 See https://science.osti.gov/user-facilities/user-facilities-at-a-glance/.

9 See https://science.osti.gov/user-facilities/user-facilities-at-a-glance/.

https://science.osti.gov/user-facilities/user-facilities-at-a-glance/ https://science.osti.gov/user-facilities/user-facilities-at-a-glance/ encouraged to include significant participation from each of the following: (1) an institution with technical leadership in a relevant accelerator technology, (2) an institution with technical experience in applying accelerator technology to the energy or environmental application proposed, and/or a domestic company currently marketing related technology. Applications lacking significant participation in either of these two areas may score poorly under merit review.

References

As background, workshops were conducted to identify the accelerator technology research directions with the potential for high impact in E&E applications. Workshops relevant to this topic area include:

• Workshop on Energy and Environmental Applications of Accelerators, Edited by Stuart Henderson and Thomas Waite, (2015).

https://science.osti.gov/~/media/hep/pdf/accelerator-rd-stewardship/Energy_Environment_Report_Final.pdf .

• Accelerators for America’s Future, Edited by Walter Henning and Charles Shank, (2009). https://science.osti.gov/~/media/hep/pdf/accelerator-rd-stewardship/Report.pdf.

(d) Compact Accelerator Technologies for Security and Medicine

Technical Contact: Eric Colby, (301)-903-5475, Eric.Colby@science.doe.gov

Accelerators are used as sources of high-energy x-rays and electrons for a variety of applications in security and medicine. Many of these applications can be significantly impacted in the near term by translating advanced component and system technologies from scientific research labs towards commercial applications and by developing use-inspired benchtop demonstrators in the next 3-6 years. For some applications, the adjustability of an accelerator source (in energy, energy spectrum, beam current, and power) could offer important performance gains. Similarly, the time structure of such a source could allow noise reduction and/or time resolved measurements.