Leveraging extreme laser-driven magnetic fields for gamma-ray generation and pair production

Jansen, O.; Wang, T.; Stark, D. J.; d'Humieres, E.; Toncian, T.; Arefiev, A. V.

doi:10.1088/1361-6587/aab222

Title: Leveraging extreme laser-driven magnetic fields for gamma-ray generation and pair production

Journal Article · Mon Feb 26 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6587/aab222· OSTI ID:1463499

^[1]; Wang, T. ^[1]; Stark, D. J. ^[2]; d'Humieres, E. ^[3]; Toncian, T. ^[4];

^[1]

Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Center for Energy Research
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
CNRS and CEA and Univ. of Bordeaux (France). Center for Intense Lasers and Applications (CELIA)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden (Germany). Inst. for Radiation Physics

In this paper, the ability of an intense laser pulse to propagate in a classically over-critical plasma through the phenomenon of relativistic transparency is shown to facilitate the generation of strong plasma magnetic fields. Particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate that these fields significantly enhance the radiation rates of the laser-irradiated electrons, and furthermore they collimate the emission so that a directed and dense beam of multi-MeV gamma-rays is achievable. This capability can be exploited for electron–positron pair production via the linear Breit–Wheeler process by colliding two such dense beams. Finally, presented simulations show that more than 10³ pairs can be produced in such a setup, and the directionality of the positrons can be controlled by the angle of incidence between the beams.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF); US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396; 1632777; ACI-1548562; FA9550-17-1-0382; EP/G054940/1; EP/G055165/1; EP/G056803/1

OSTI ID:: 1463499

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-18-21518; TRN: US1902309

Journal Information:: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Vol. 60, Issue 5; ISSN 0741-3335

Publisher:: IOP ScienceCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 35 works

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70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
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