We investigate beam loading and emittance preservation for a high-charge electron beam being accelerated in quasi-linear plasma wakefields driven by a short proton beam. The structure of the studied wakefields are similar to those of a long, modulated proton beam, such as the AWAKE proton driver. We show that by properly choosing the electron beam parameters and exploiting two well known effects, beam loading of the wakefield and full blow out of plasma electrons by the accelerated beam, the electron beam can gain large amounts of energy with a narrow final energy spread (%-level) and without significant emittance growth.
The first phases of the AWAKE experiment will study the wake structure and the potential for electron acceleration in a self-modulated proton driver. In AWAKE Run 2, expected to start after the LHC Long Shut Down 2, electron beam acceleration will be studied. Using a single proton driver and a long acceleration stage, an electron bunch will be accelerated to high energies. Demonstrating beam quality preservation and scalable plasma sources will be a significant step towards using proton driven plasma for applications. We report on the plans and preparations for AWAKE Run 2.
The AWAKE project at CERN will use a high-energy proton beam at 400 GeV/c to drive wake'elds in a plasma. The amplitude of these wake'elds will be probed by injecting into the plasma a low-energy electron beam (10-20 MeV/c), which will be accelerated to several GeV. Upstream of the plasma cell the two beams will either be transported coaxially or with an o'set of few millimetres for about 6 m. The interaction between the two beams in this beam line has been investigated in the past, with a dedicated simulation code tracking particles under the in'uence of direct space-charge e'ects. These simulations have recently been crosschecked with a new simulation code called RF-Track, developed at CERN to simulate low energy accelerators. RF-Track can track multiple-specie beams at arbitrary energies, taking into account the full electromagnetic particle-to-particle inter-action. For its characteristics RF-Track seems an ideal tool to study the AWAKE two-beam interaction. The results of these studies are presented in this paper and compared to the previous results. The implications for the facility performance are discussed.
The AWAKE experiment has been successfully installed in the CNGS facility at CERN, and is currently in its first stage of operation. The experiment seeks to demonstrate self-modulation of an SPS proton beam in a rubidium plasma, driving a wakefield of several gigavolt per meter. We describe the data acquisition and control system of the AWAKE experiment, its integration into the CERN control system and new control developments specifically required for AWAKE.
Particle accelerator technology is constantly being developed, and new equipment and machines replace the former ones to keep pushing the energy and intensity frontiers. Therefore, in order to meet the space requirements of new equipment, the infrastructure often needs to be modified, and given its rigid nature, this presents a challenge for the civil engineers to provide the needed space without compromising the safety and serviceability of the structures. In this paper two underground works are presented: a new cross-passage tunnel for the AWAKE experiment completed in 2014 and the future SPS Beam Dump. The challenges that must be faced are: (a) to make sure that the movements of the adjacent structures remain within admissible limits, (b) to design and execute the works such that the life span of the structure is not reduced, (c) To ensure the effectiveness of existing and new drainage systems during and after the works. For these purposes, in the frame of future tunnel asset management, the use of novel and conventional monitoring techniques plays a crucial role as it can predict in real time potential tunnel deformations which can lead, in the worst scenario, to tunnel failure
AWAKE, the Advanced Proton Driven Plasma Wake-field Acceleration Experiment at CERN was approved in 2013. The facility was commissioned in 2016 to perform first experiments to demonstrate the self-modulation in-stability (SMI) of a 400 GeV/c SPS proton bunch in a 10 m long Rubidium plasma cell. The plasma is created in Rb vapor via field ionization by a TW laser pulse. In the second phase starting late 2017, the proton driven plasma wakefield will be probed with an externally injected 10 ' 20 MeV/c electron beam. This paper gives an overview of the AWAKE facility, describes the successful commissioning of the laser and proton beam line, the plasma cell and diagnostics and shows the successful synchronization of the proton beam with the laser at the few ps level so that the facility is ready for the SMI physics runs. In addition the status of the electron acceleration exper-iment for late 2017 will be presented.
The Advanced Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment (AWAKE) at CERN aims to develop a proof-of-principle electron accelerator based on proton driven plasma wake-field acceleration. The core of AWAKE is a 10 metre long plasma cell filled with Rubidium vapour in which single, 400 GeV, proton bunches extracted from the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) generate a strong plasma wakefield. The plasma is seeded using a femtosecond pulsed Ti:Sapphire laser. The aim of the experiment is to inject low energy electrons onto the plasma wake and accelerate them over this short distance to an energy of several GeV. To achieve its commissioning goals, AWAKE requires the precise measurement of the position and transverse profile of the laser, proton and electron beams as well as their temporal synchronisation. This contribution will present the beam instrumentation systems designed for AWAKE and their performance during the 2016 proton beam commissioning period.
We present the scheme for a rubidium vapor source that is used as a plasma source in the AWAKE plasma wakefield acceleration experiment. The plasma wakefield acceleration process requires a number of stringent parameters for the plasma: electron density adjustable in the (1-10)$\times$10$^{14}$cm$^{-3}$ range, 0.25% relative density uniformity, sharp ($
The purpose of this technical note is to give a brief explanation of the AWAKE Web Server, the current web applications it serves, and how to edit, maintain, and update the source code. The majority of this paper is dedicated to the development of the server and its web applications.
AWAKE is a proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration experiment. % We show that the experimental setup briefly described here is ready for systematic study of the seeded self-modulation of the 400\,GeV proton bunch in the 10\,m-long rubidium plasma with density adjustable from 1 to 10$\times10^{14}$\,cm$^{-3}$. % We show that the short laser pulse used for ionization of the rubidium vapor propagates all the way along the column, suggesting full ionization of the vapor. % We show that ionization occurs along the proton bunch, at the laser time and that the plasma that follows affects the proton bunch. %
The AWAKE project at CERN uses a self-modulated 400 GeV/c proton bunch to drive GV/m wakefields in a 10 m long plasma with an electron density of $n_{pe}$ = 7 × $10^{14}$ electrons/$cm^3$. We present the upgrade of a proton beam diagnostic to indirectly prove that the bunch self-modulated by imaging defocused protons with two screens downstream the end of the plasma. The two-screen diagnostic has been installed, commissioned and tested in autumn 2016 and limitations were identified. We plan to install an upgraded diagnostics to overcome these limitations.
Using frequency mixing, a modulated light pulse of ns duration is created. We show that, with a ps-resolution streak camera that is usually used for single short pulse measurements, we can detect via an FFT detection approach up to 450 GHz modulation in a pulse in a single measurement. This work is performed in the context of the AWAKE plasma wakefield experiment where modulation frequencies in the range of 80–280 GHz are expected.
The Advanced Wakefield Experiment (AWAKE) aims at studying the proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration technique for the first time. The testing facility, currently being built at CERN, uses the proton beam at a momentum of 400 GeV/c from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) to accelerate an electron beam to the GeV scale over 10 m of plasma. In order to achieve such an acceleration gradient, the reference signal of the low-level RF (LLRF) system controlling the proton beam must keep in-phase with the reference signal used to generate the electron beam and plasma (laser). Even though the SPS LLRF system is located about 3 km away from the laser and electron beam electronics, the phase drift between the three references has been specified to be in the sub-picosecond range. In order to cope with the experiment requirements, we have developed a custom VME board and a digital control system embedded in a FPGA to compensate for the phase drift between the reference signals at both ends of the optical links. In this work, we present the results of the study developed to analyze the expected phase drift, the selected method to compensate it and the performance of the first prototypes of the board. The use of a very precise phase detector and digitally controlled delay lines, both in the level of tens of femtoseconds allow tracking the phase drifts and compensate for them with a very high precision. Measurements of the achieved precision in the developed module have shown to be in the sub-picosecond range, as demanded by the experiment requirements.
The beam intensity and the beam brightness of particle accelerators or colliders operated for high - energy physics were, and are, often severely limited by “collective effects” (e.g.[1]). By contrast, new light sources, such as linac - based free electron lasers, may even rely on collective instabilities to accomplish their mission! The term “collective effects” refers to the interaction of beam particles with each other through a variety of processes, e.g. (1) non-delayed self-fields and image fields present even for constant perfectly conducting and magnetic boundaries (direct and indirect “space - charge effects”), (2) longer - lived electro-magnetic “wake fields” due to a finite chamber resistivity or geometric variation in the beam - pipe cross section, which typically affect later parts of the beam, (3) coherent synchrotron radiation, which on a curved trajectory may even influence earlier parts of the beam, giving rise to “non-causal” wake fields, otherwise not normally encountered for ultra - relativistic beams, (4) beam - beam collisions, (5) particle - particle scattering inside the beam (single scattering called “Touschek effect” and multiple scattering known as “intrabeam scattering’), (6) gas ionization (“trapped - ion” or “fast - ion” instability), and (7) ionization electrons, photoelectrons and secondary electrons (“electron cloud effects”). Arguably also the appearance of (8) micron - size “dust” particles near the beam (“UFO effect”) could be considered a collective effect, as it is not observed, or does rarely happen, at low beam current. Half a century ago, collective effects were often overlooked or could not be well computed. The design of the storage ring collider SPEAR, for example, seems to have considered beam currents of up to 40 A [2], but it only achieved 30 mA [3]. By contrast, the Intersection Storage Rings (ISR) at CERN were constructed with a careful assessment and minimization of the “impedance” for all their components, and, as a result, the ISR reached maximum (coasting) beam currents around 50 A. Indeed the first solid theories of wake - field induced beam instabilities, by Neil and Sessler [4], and even the term “impedance,” introduced in the accelerator field by Vaccaro [5], date from about this era. Nowadays, the impedance or wake fields of most accelerator components can be calculated fairly reliably, using modern simulation codes run on powerful computers. Probably the first such code was developed by Weiland [6]. The impedance of special elements or for particular situations (e.g. two - beam impedance) still require care, however. Our understanding is rapidly evolving for other types of collective effects such as those driven by electron cloud or ions. The formation of beam tails and the required beam collimation also are important subject of active research. And so is the interplay between the optical lattice and collective effects. Micro - bunching instability, free - electron lasing or other types of coherent photon - beam interactions, e.g. beam interactions with FEL “seed laser” beams passing through undulators, as well as the harmful hose instability and the desired self - modulation instability in plasma acceleration (relevant for the AWAKE experiment at CERN), are further tantalizing manifestations of collective effects in modern and future particle accelerators.
The AWAKE Collaboration has been formed in order to demonstrate proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration for the first time. This acceleration technique could lead to future colliders of high energy but of a much reduced length when compared to proposed linear accelerators. The CERN SPS proton beam in the CNGS facility will be injected into a 10 m plasma cell where the long proton bunches will be modulated into significantly shorter micro-bunches. These micro-bunches will then initiate a strong wakefield in the plasma with peak fields above 1 GV/m that will be harnessed to accelerate a bunch of electrons from about 20 MeV to the GeV scale within a few meters. The experimental program is based on detailed numerical simulations of beam and plasma interactions. The main accelerator components, the experimental area and infrastructure required as well as the plasma cell and the diagnostic equipment are discussed in detail. First protons to the experiment are expected at the end of 2016 and this will be followed by an initial three-four years experimental program. The experiment will inform future larger-scale tests of proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration and applications to high energy colliders.
The goal of the first phase of the AWAKE \cite{AWAKE1,AWAKE2} experiment at CERN is to measure the self-modulation \cite{SMI} of the $\sigma_z = 12\,\rm{cm}$ long SPS proton bunch into microbunches after traversing $10\,\rm{m}$ of plasma with a plasma density of $n_{pe}=7\times10^{14}\,\rm{electrons/cm}^3$. The two screen measurement setup \cite{Turner2016} is a proton beam diagnostic that can indirectly prove the successful development of the self-modulation of the proton beam by imaging protons that got defocused by the transverse plasma wakefields after passing through the plasma, at two locations downstream the end of the plasma. This article describes the design and realization of the two screen measurement setup integrated in the AWAKE experiment. We discuss the performance and background response of the system based on measurements performed with an unmodulated Gaussian SPS proton bunch during the AWAKE beam commissioning in September and October 2016. We show that the system is fully commissioned and adapted to eventually image the full profile of a self-modulated SPS proton bunch in a single shot measurement during the first phase of the AWAKE experiment.
The AWAKE collaboration prepares a proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration experiment using the SPS beam at CERN. A long proton bunch extracted from the SPS interacts with a high power laser and a 10 m long rubidium vapour plasma cell to create strong wakefields allowing sustained electron acceleration. The electron bunch to probe these wakefields is supplied by a 20 MeV electron accelerator. The electron accelerator consists of an RF-gun and a short booster structure. This electron source should provide beams with intensities between 0.1 and 1 nC, bunch lengths between 0.3 and 3 ps and an emittance of the order of 2 mm mrad. The wide range of parameters should cope with the uncertainties and future prospects of the planned experiments. The layout of the electron accelerator, its instrumentation and beam dynamics simulations are presented.
The AWAKE project at CERN is planned to study proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration with an externally injected electron beam. Therefore two transfer lines are being designed in order to provide the proton beam from the SPS and the electron beam from an RF gun to the plasma cell. The commissioning of the proton line will take place in 2016 for the first phase of the experiment, which is focused on the self-modulation of a 12 cm long proton bunch in the plasma. The electron line will be added for the second phase of AWAKE in 2017, when the wakefield will be probed with an electron beam of 10–20 MeV/c. The challenge for these transfer lines lies in the parallel operation of the proton, electron and laser beam used to ionize the plasma and seed the self-modulation. These beams, of different characteristics, need to be synchronized and positioned for optimized injection conditions into the wakefield. This task requires great flexibility in the transfer line optics. The status of these designs will be presented in this paper.
The AWAKE experiment will use a \SI{400}{GeV/c} proton beam with a longitudinal bunch length of $\sigma_z = 12\,\rm{cm}$ to create and sustain GV/m plasma wakefields over 10 meters . A 12 cm long bunch can only drive strong wakefields in a plasma with $n_{pe} = 7 \times 10^{14}\,\rm{electrons/cm}^3$ after the self-modulation instability (SMI) developed and microbunches formed, spaced at the plasma wavelength. The fields present during SMI focus and defocus the protons in the transverse plane \cite{SMI}. We show that by inserting two imaging screens downstream the plasma, we can measure the maximum defocusing angle of the defocused protons for plasma densities above $n_{pe} = 5 \times 10^{14}\,\rm{electrons/cm}^{-3}$. Measuring maximum defocusing angles around 1 mrad indirectly proves that SMI developed successfully and that GV/m plasma wakefields were created. In this paper we present numerical studies on how and when the wakefields defocus protons in plasma, the expected measurement results of the two screen diagnostics and the physics we can deduce from it.
The Advanced Wakefield Experiment at CERN (AWAKE) requires two particle beams and a high power laser pulse to arrive simultaneously in a rubidium plasma cell. A proton bunch from the SPS extracted about once every 30 seconds must be synchronised with the AWAKE laser and the electron beam pulsing at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The latter is directly generated using a photocathode triggered by part of the laser light, but the exact time of arrival in the plasma cell still depends on the phase of the RF in the accelerating structure. Each beam requires RF signals at characteristic frequencies: 6 GHz, 88.2 MHz and 10 Hz for the synchronisation of the laser pulse, 400.8 MHz and 8.7 kHz for the SPS, as well as 3 GHz to drive the accelerating structure of the electron beam. A low-level RF system has been designed to generate all signals derived from a common reference. Additionally precision triggers, synchronous with the arrival of the beams, will be distributed to beam instrumentation equipment. To suppress delay drifts of the several kilometer long optical fibres between AWAKE and the SPS RF systems, a compensated fibre link is being developed.
AWAKE is a unique experiment that aims to demonstrate the proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration. In this experiment, proton bunches from the SPS accelerator will be injected into a 10m long pre-formed plasma section to form wakefields of hundreds MV/m to several GV/m. A second beam, e.g., the witness beam, will be injected after the protons in an appropriate phase to gain energy from the wakefields. A photo-injector will be utilised to deliver this second beam. It consists of an S-band RF gun followed by a meter long accelerating travelling wave structure (ATS). The RF gun was recuperated from existing PHIN photo-injector. A 3D RF design of the ATS was done by using the CST code and the field maps produced were used to characterise the electron beam dynamics under space charge effect by using the PARMELA code. The impact of the mechanical errors on the beam dynamics were investigated.
The AWAKE experiment is to be constructed at the CERN Neutrinos to Gran Sasso facility (CNGS). This will be the first experiment to demonstrate proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration. The 400 GeV proton beam from the CERN SPS will excite a wakefield in a plasma cell several meters in length. To probe the plasma wakefield, electrons of 10–20 MeV will be injected into the wakefield following the head of the proton beam. Simulations indicate that electrons will be accelerated to GeV energies by the plasma wakefield. The AWAKE spectrometer is intended to measure both the peak energy and energy spread of these accelerated electrons. Results of beam tests of the scintillator screen output are presented, along with tests of the resolution of the proposed optical system. The results are used together with a BDSIM simulation of the spectrometer system to predict the spectrometer performance for a range of possible accelerated electron distributions.
The AWAKE experiment at CERN will be the first proof-of-principle demonstration of the proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration using the 400 GeV proton beam extracted from the SPS accelerator. The plasma wakefield will be driven by a sequence of sub-millimeter long micro-bunches produced as a result of the self-modulation instability (SMI) of the 12 cm long SPS proton bunch in the 10 m long rubidium plasma with a density corresponding to the plasma wavelength of around 1 mm. A 16 MeV electron beam will be injected into the developing SMI and used to probe the plasma wakefields. The proton beam self-modulation in a wide range of plasma densities and gradients have been studied in detail via numerical simulations. A new configuration of the AWAKE experiment with a small plasma density step is proposed.
