CERN Accelerating science

AWAKE, an Advanced Wakefield Experiment is launched at CERN to verify the proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration concept. Proton bunches at 400 GeV/c will be extracted from the CERN SPS and sent along a 750 m long proton line to a plasma cell, a Rubidium vapour source, where the proton beam drives wakefields reaching accelerating gradients of several gigavolts per meter. A high power laser pulse will copropagate within the proton bunch creating the plasma by ionizing the (initially) neutral gas. An electron beam will be injected into the plasma cell to probe the accelerating wakefield. The AWAKE experiment will be installed in the CNGS facility. First proton beam to the plasma cell is expected by end 2016. The installation planning and the baseline parameters of the experiment are shown. The design of the experimental area and the integration of the new beam-lines as well as the experimental equipment are presented. The needed modifications of the infrastructure in the facility and a few challenges are highlighted.