CERN Accelerating science

A Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment has been proposed as an approach to eventually accelerate an electron beam to the TeV energy range in a single plasma section. To verify this novel technique, a proof of principle R&D; experiment, AWAKE, is planned at CERN using 400 GeV proton bunches from the SPS. 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 profiting from existing infrastructure where only minor modifications need to be foreseen. The design of the experimental area and the proton and electron beam lines are shown. The achievable SPS proton bunch properties and their reproducibility have been measured and are presented.