Implementation of light diagnostics for wakefields at AWAKE

Abstract

We describe the implementation of light diagnostics for studying the self-modulation instability of a long relativistic proton bunch in a 10 m-long plasma. The wakefields driven by the proton bunch dissipate their energy in the surrounding plasma. The amount of light emitted as atomic line radiation is related to the amount of energy dissipated in the plasma. We describe the setup and calibration of the light diagnostics, configured for a discharge plasma source and a vapor plasma source. For both sources, we analyze measurements of the light from the plasma only (no proton bunch). We show that with the vapor plasma source, the light signal is proportional to the energy deposited in the vapor/plasma by the ionizing laser pulse. We use this dependency to obtain the parameters of an imposed plasma density step. This dependency also forms the basis for ongoing studies, focused on investigating the wakefield evolution along the plasma.