Collimated GeV attosecond electron-positron bunches from a plasma channel driven by 10 PW lasers

Zhu, Xing-Long and Chen, Min and Yu, Tong-Pu and Weng, Su-Ming and He, Feng and Sheng, Zheng-Ming (2019) Collimated GeV attosecond electron-positron bunches from a plasma channel driven by 10 PW lasers. Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 4 (1). 014401. ISSN 2468-080X (https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5083914)

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Abstract

High-energy positrons and bright γ-ray sources are of great importance both in fundamental research and for practical applications. However, collimated GeV electron–positron pair jets and γ-ray flashes are still rarely produced in the laboratory. Here, we demonstrate that by irradiating a near-critical-density plasma channel with two 10 PW-scale laser pulses, highly directional GeV electron–positron pairs and bright γ-ray beams can be efficiently generated. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show the formation of GeV positron jets with high density (8×1021/ cm3), attosecond duration (400 as), and a divergence angle of 14°. Additionally, ultrabright [2×1025 photons s−1 mm−2 mrad−2 (0.1% bandwidth)−1] collimated attosecond (370 as) γ-ray flashes with a laser energy conversion efficiency of 5.6% are emitted. These features show the significant advantage of using a plasma channel as compared with a uniform plasma and thus open up new possibilities for a wide variety of applications.

ORCID iDs

Zhu, Xing-Long, Chen, Min, Yu, Tong-Pu, Weng, Su-Ming, He, Feng and Sheng, Zheng-Ming ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8823-9993;
  • Item type:Article
    ID code:67464
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    17 January 2019
    Published
    28 October 2018
    Accepted
    Subjects:Science > Physics
    Department:Faculty of Science > Physics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:01 Apr 2019 10:49
    Last modified:11 Nov 2024 12:16
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/67464
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