AWAKE - additional equipment
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Additional equipment to support Imperial's work on WP4: Plasma Discharge Source. A summary of the objectives are given below:
2.4 WP4 : Discharge plasma source
Along with the metal vapour and helicon sources, the discharge plasma cell is one of the tech- nology options for AWAKE
as described in the Design Report. The discharge cell has significant advantages over the other two, viz. it is scalable to
long distances (i.e. tens of metres and beyond) which is not the case for the metal vapour cell, and although the helicon is
similarly scalable, this is a far more expensive option than the discharge source due to the large amounts of RF needed to
generate the helicon waves. The simple, glass-tube structure of the discharge cell should also make it more amenable to
diagnostic devices (e.g. WP2) which can utilise the open structure of the discharge cell. The work is led by Imperial, with
Nelson Lopes the AWAKE task leader, in collaboration with Lisbon. During the current grant, prototypes have been built,
with a 10mm diameter 1.5m long cell operated at ~0.3Hz based on a 1.6 microsecond pulsed electrical discharge that
provides ~300 A at 2 kV. The power supply is based on a prototype built in-house at Imperial. Measurements of the density
uniformity using interferometry are now underway which after completion should demonstrate the feasibility of these
discharges in a configuration close to the that needed for AWAKE. Longer cells are also in preparation.
The key issues to be worked on during the next year are:
* Obtain gas pressure stability in the glass tube;
* Obtain the required plasma uniformity;
* Measure the required plasma density;
* Ensure HV setup reliability;
* Comply with CERN standards;
* Development of longer (up to 10 m) prototypes.
2.4 WP4 : Discharge plasma source
Along with the metal vapour and helicon sources, the discharge plasma cell is one of the tech- nology options for AWAKE
as described in the Design Report. The discharge cell has significant advantages over the other two, viz. it is scalable to
long distances (i.e. tens of metres and beyond) which is not the case for the metal vapour cell, and although the helicon is
similarly scalable, this is a far more expensive option than the discharge source due to the large amounts of RF needed to
generate the helicon waves. The simple, glass-tube structure of the discharge cell should also make it more amenable to
diagnostic devices (e.g. WP2) which can utilise the open structure of the discharge cell. The work is led by Imperial, with
Nelson Lopes the AWAKE task leader, in collaboration with Lisbon. During the current grant, prototypes have been built,
with a 10mm diameter 1.5m long cell operated at ~0.3Hz based on a 1.6 microsecond pulsed electrical discharge that
provides ~300 A at 2 kV. The power supply is based on a prototype built in-house at Imperial. Measurements of the density
uniformity using interferometry are now underway which after completion should demonstrate the feasibility of these
discharges in a configuration close to the that needed for AWAKE. Longer cells are also in preparation.
The key issues to be worked on during the next year are:
* Obtain gas pressure stability in the glass tube;
* Obtain the required plasma uniformity;
* Measure the required plasma density;
* Ensure HV setup reliability;
* Comply with CERN standards;
* Development of longer (up to 10 m) prototypes.
Planned Impact
The main academic beneficiaries are the high-energy physics community, that will be able to assess if there is sufficient
expertise to be able to plan and implement proton drive plasma wakefield experiments, that have the possibility of
overcoming the energy barrier for electron-positron colliders.
expertise to be able to plan and implement proton drive plasma wakefield experiments, that have the possibility of
overcoming the energy barrier for electron-positron colliders.
People |
ORCID iD |
Zulfikar Najmudin (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Bracco C
(2016)
AWAKE: A Proton-Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment at CERN
in Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings
Caldwell A
(2016)
Path to AWAKE: Evolution of the concept
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Gschwendtner E
(2016)
AWAKE, The Advanced Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment at CERN
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Description | Self-modulation of CERN SPS beam has been observed as predicted and the main thrust of this run of AWAKE Electron acceleration experiments were performed at CERN using the self-modulated beam, but we were not involved due to lack of funding. |
Exploitation Route | A second run of AWAKE is being prepared for which the ICL plasma source may be used, We have received further funds to develop the plasma source. |
Sectors | Education Government Democracy and Justice Other |
Description | New design of the experiment our plasma cells have been proposed. |
First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
Impact Types | Policy & public services |
Description | EuPRAXIA |
Amount | £132,142 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 653782 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Department | Horizon 2020 |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 11/2015 |
End | 10/2019 |
Description | AWAKE-II |
Organisation | European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Developing plasma cells for longer length plasmas required for AWAKE-II experiment and developing associated diagnostics. |
Collaborator Contribution | Preparation of the SPS beam line for the AWAKE experiment. Recent additions include adding a high performance electron injection beamline. |
Impact | A number of high profile publications have resulted in the AWAKE project though none yet using the new plasma source. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | IST AWAKE contribution |
Organisation | University of Lisbon |
Department | Instituto Superior Tecnico |
Country | Portugal |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We are collaborating with Dr Nelson Lopes to develop a next generation plasma cell for the AWAKE-II run. We have built a prototype in the Blackett Laboratory that will be expanded to 10m to be implemented in CERN. We are also contributing with diagnostics of the cell. |
Collaborator Contribution | Dr Lopes was instrumental in the building of the cell, in design for the power supply (which uses solid-state switches to be low power) and in pitching the use of the cell to the AWAKE collaboration. |
Impact | Dr Lopes has obtained seed-corn money from the FCT in Portugal to continue cell development, and we have recently been awarded money in the AWAKE-UK collaboration to build a cell for CERN. |
Start Year | 2012 |
Description | Talk to IC-SW Alumni Association |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 30-40 IC Alumni interested in research taking place in the University. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Talk to Imperial College PhysSoc |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Talked about novel plasma accelerators to undergraduate students, which many reported was the first time they had heard of the concept. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |