Relativistic Positron Creation Using Ultraintense Short Pulse Lasers

Journal Article · Fri Mar 13 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.102.105001· OSTI ID:21180286

Hui, Chen; Wilks, Scott C; Bonlie, James D; Price, Dwight F; Beiersdorfer, Peter ^[1]; Liang, Edison P ^[2]; Myatt, Jason; Meyerhofer, David D ^[3]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
2. Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005 (United States)
3. University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States)

We measure up to 2x10{sup 10} positrons per steradian ejected out the back of {approx}mm thick gold targets when illuminated with short ({approx}1 ps) ultraintense ({approx}1x10{sup 20} W/cm{sup 2}) laser pulses. Positrons are produced predominately by the Bethe-Heitler process and have an effective temperature of 2-4 MeV, with the distribution peaking at 4-7 MeV. The angular distribution of the positrons is anisotropic. Modeling based on the measurements indicate the positron density to be {approx}10{sup 16} positrons/cm{sup 3}, the highest ever created in the laboratory.

• OSTI ID: 21180286
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 102, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.105001; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
07 ISOTOPES AND RADIATION SOURCES
ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION
ANISOTROPY
GOLD
LASERS
MEV RANGE 01-10
POSITRONS
PULSES
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SIMULATION