Abstract
The AWAKE Collaboration is pursuing a demonstration of proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration of electrons. The AWAKE experiment uses a 400GeV/c proton bunch from the CERN SPS, with a rms bunch length of 6-15 cm, to drive wakefields in a 10 m long rubidium plasma with an electron density of 1014 — 1015cm−3. Since the drive bunch length is much longer than the plasma wavelength (λpe <3 mm) for these plasma densities, AWAKE performed experiments to prove that the long proton bunch self-modulates in the plasma (2017). The next step is to demonstrate acceleration of electrons in the wakefields driven by the self-modulated bunch (2018). We summarize the concept of the self-modulation measurements and describe the plans and challenges for the electron acceleration experiments.
Highlights
The goal of AWAKE [1,2,3], the Advanced proton driven plasma WAKefield Experiment, is to show that plasma wakefields driven by proton bunches can be used to accelerate electrons over tens of meters with gradients on the order of one GeV/m
We show that the proton bunch self-modulated in the plasma and that the modulation is radial by observing periodic regions of low and high proton density on the streak camera images and observing protons that are defocused symmetrically around the bunch core on the time-integrated images
We prove that the distance between the proton microbunches corresponds to the plasma electron wavelength λpe by measuring the coherent transition radiation (CTR) frequency and by fourier transforming the streak camera images
Summary
The goal of AWAKE [1,2,3], the Advanced proton driven plasma WAKefield Experiment, is to show that plasma wakefields driven by proton bunches can be used to accelerate electrons over tens of meters with gradients on the order of one GeV/m. Electron bunches and laser pulses carry tens of Joules of energy and experimentally proved to be able to increase the energy of witness particles by several to tens of GeV. Proton bunches produced at CERN carry energies of tens to hundreds of kilo-Joules. They have the potential to drive wakefields over long enough distances to accelerate electrons up to TeV energies [8] in a single plasma stage. Where the bunch is defocused, its radial size increases and the proton density np decreases. Where the bunch is focused, its radial size decreases and the proton density np increases.
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