The AWAKE Proton-driven Plasma Wakefield Experiment at CERN

The AWAKE experiment at CERN aims at studying plasma wakefield generation and acceleration driven by proton bunches. The first experiments will focus on the self-modulation instability of the long (~12cm, rms) proton bunch in the plasma. This instability is used to transform the incoming bunch into a train of short bunches with a period approximately equal to the plasma wavelength, ~1.2mm at a nominal plasma electron density of 7·10¹⁴/cc. These experiments are planned for the end of 2016. Later, low energy (~15MeV) electrons will be externally injected to sample the wakefields and be accelerated beyond 1GeV. The main goals of the experiment will be summarized and the progress with the plasma source, beam diagnostics and injection method will be presented.