Extremely brilliant GeV γ-rays from a two-stage laser-plasma accelerator

Zhu, Xing-Long; Chen, Min; Weng, Shangkun; Yu, Tong-Pu; Wang, Weimin; He, Feng; Sheng, Zheng-Ming; McKenna, P.; Jaroszynski, D. A.; Zhang, Jie

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz7240

Cited by 68 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 61 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Relativistic electrons are then decelerated in a high- Z sample producing continuous MeV-bremsstrahlung radiation 40 – 42 . Concepts for producing multi-MeV highly brilliant photon beams from MeV-betatron emission of trapped GeV-electrons were theoretically discussed for the next generation of ultra-high intense lasers 43 – 46 . Such single laser schemes allow to investigate quantum electrodynamic (QED) effects and QED plasmas 45 , 46 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forward-looking insights in laser-generated ultra-intense γ-ray and neutron sources for nuclear application and science

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ultra-intense MeV photon and neutron beams are indispensable tools in many research fields such as nuclear, atomic and material science as well as in medical and biophysical applications. For applications in laboratory nuclear astrophysics, neutron fluxes in excess of 1021 n/(cm2 s) are required. Such ultra-high fluxes are unattainable with existing conventional reactor- and accelerator-based facilities. Currently discussed concepts for generating high-flux neutron beams are based on ultra-high power multi-petawatt lasers operating around 1023 W/cm2 intensities. Here, we present an efficient concept for generating γ and neutron beams based on enhanced production of direct laser-accelerated electrons in relativistic laser interactions with a long-scale near critical density plasma at 1019 W/cm2 intensity. Experimental insights in the laser-driven generation of ultra-intense, well-directed multi-MeV beams of photons more than 1012 ph/sr and an ultra-high intense neutron source with greater than 6 × 1010 neutrons per shot are presented. More than 1.4% laser-to-gamma conversion efficiency above 10 MeV and 0.05% laser-to-neutron conversion efficiency were recorded, already at moderate relativistic laser intensities and ps pulse duration. This approach promises a strong boost of the diagnostic potential of existing kJ PW laser systems used for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) research.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forward-looking insights in laser-generated ultra-intense γ-ray and neutron sources for nuclear application and science

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…At such extreme light intensities, particle acceleration towards 10-100 GeV for leptons [13,14] and 0.1-10GeV/nucleon for ions [15][16][17] are to be expected, which may further motivate applications in advanced X/gamma-ray sources [18,19] and ion cancer therapy [20]. The new interaction regime featured by radiation-reaction and quantum-electrodynamics (QED) processes can be probed [21,22] (e.g., radiation reaction [23][24][25], electron-positron generation [26][27][28][29], QED cascade [30][31][32][33], etc.). Nuclear physics [34][35][36] as well as lab-astrophysics [37][38][39] will also benefit a lot from these extreme laser sources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the upper limit of laser intensity attainable in nonideal vacuum

2021

Photon. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The upper limit of the laser field strength in perfect vacuum is usually considered as the Schwinger field, corresponding to ~10 29 W/cm 2 . We investigate such limitations under realistic non-ideal vacuum conditions and find out that intensity suppression appears starting from 10 25 W/cm 2 , showing an upper threshold at 10 26 W/cm 2 level if the residual electron density in chamber surpasses 10 9 cm -3 . This is because the presence of residual electrons triggers the avalanche of quantum-electrodynamics cascade that creates copious electron and positron pairs. The leptons are further trapped within the driving laser field due to radiation-reaction, which significantly depletes the laser energy. The relationship between the attainable intensity and the vacuity is given according to particle-in-cell simulations and theoretical analysis. These results answer a critical problem on the achievable light intensity based on present vacuum conditions and provide a guideline for future 100's-Petawatt class laser development.

show abstract

“…A breakthrough in laser power was made by the invention of the chirped-pulse-amplification (CPA) technique in 1985 [3], and since then, many TW laser systems and even PW laser systems have been developed, achieving a maximum focused intensity of 5.5 × 10 22 W/cm 2 [4,5]. Thus far, most of them have been used for laser-plasma interaction studies, including high-energy electron acceleration [6][7][8], ion generation [9,10], X-ray/γ-ray production [11,12], etc. In our laboratory at GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology), we also have a 20 TW/35 fs Ti:sapphire laser system that is used mainly for high-energy electron acceleration and related experiments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a 1 TW/35 fs Ti:sapphire Laser Amplifier and Generation of Intense THz Waves Using Two-Color Laser Filamentation

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We developed a compact Ti:sapphire laser amplifier system in our laboratory, generating intense laser pulses with a peak power of >1 TW (terawatt), a pulse duration of 34 fs (femtosecond), a central wavelength of 800 nm, and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The laser amplifier system consists of a mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator, a regenerative amplifier, and a single-side-pumped 4-pass amplifier. The chirped-pulse amplification (CPA)-based laser amplifier was found to provide an energy of 49.6 mJ after compression by gratings in air, where the pumping fluence of 1.88 J/cm2 was used. The amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) level was measured to be lower than 10−7, and ps-prepulses were in 10−4 or lower level. The developed laser amplifier system was used for the generation of intense THz (terahertz) waves by focusing the original (800 nm) and second harmonic (400 nm) laser pulses in air. The THz pulse energy was shown to be saturated in the high laser energy regime, and this phenomenon was confirmed by fully electromagnetic, relativistic, and self-consistent particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations.

show abstract

Extremely brilliant GeV γ-rays from a two-stage laser-plasma accelerator

Cited by 68 publications

References 61 publications

Forward-looking insights in laser-generated ultra-intense γ-ray and neutron sources for nuclear application and science

Forward-looking insights in laser-generated ultra-intense γ-ray and neutron sources for nuclear application and science

On the upper limit of laser intensity attainable in nonideal vacuum

Development of a 1 TW/35 fs Ti:sapphire Laser Amplifier and Generation of Intense THz Waves Using Two-Color Laser Filamentation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About