AWAKE, The Advanced Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment at CERN

The Advanced Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment (AWAKE) aims at studying plasma wakefield generation and electron acceleration driven by proton bunches. It is a proof-of-principle R&D experiment at CERN and the world's first proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration experiment. The AWAKE experiment will be installed in the former CNGS facility and uses the 400 GeV/c proton beam bunches from the SPS. The first experiments will focus on the self-modulation instability of the long (rms similar to 12 cm) proton bunch in the plasma. These experiments are planned for the end of 2016. Later, in 2017/2018, low energy (similar to 15 MeV) electrons will be externally injected into the sample wake fields and be accelerated beyond 1 GeV. The main goals of the experiment will be summarized. A summary of the AWAKE design and construction status will be presented. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.