Modelling the effects of the radiation reaction force on the interaction of thin foils with ultra-intense laser fields

Duff, M. J.; Capdessus, R.; Sorbo, Dario Del; Ridgers, C. P.; King, M.; McKenna, P.

doi:10.1088/1361-6587/aab97d

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…For simplicity, we take [76] g (χ e ) = 3.7χ 3 e + 31χ 2 e +12χ e + 1 −4/9 , and thus the estimated radiation power with photon energy above 0.1 MeV is approximately 5 TW, which is in reasonable agreement with our PIC simulations of averaged radiation power of 6 TW. Meanwhile, the photon brilliance reached the maximum at around t = 23T 0 .…”

Section: Bright γ -Ray Vortex Emissionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Efficient bright γ-ray vortex emission from a laser-illuminated light-fan-in-channel target

Zhang

Zhao

et al. 2021

High Pow Laser Sci Eng

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X/γ-rays have many potential applications in laboratory astrophysics and particle physics. Although several methods have been proposed for generating electron, positron, and X/γ-photon beams with angular momentum (AM), the generation of ultra-intense brilliant γ-rays is still challenging. Here, we present an all-optical scheme to generate a high-energy γ-photon beam with large beam angular momentum (BAM), small divergence, and high brilliance. In the first stage, a circularly polarized laser pulse with intensity of 1022 W/cm2 irradiates a micro-channel target, drags out electrons from the channel wall, and accelerates them to high energies via the longitudinal electric fields. During the process, the laser transfers its spin angular momentum (SAM) to the electrons’ orbital angular momentum (OAM). In the second stage, the drive pulse is reflected by the attached fan-foil and a vortex laser pulse is thus formed. In the third stage, the energetic electrons collide head-on with the reflected vortex pulse and transfer their AM to the γ-photons via nonlinear Compton scattering. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the peak brilliance of the γ-ray beam is photons·s–1·mm–2·mrad–2 per 0.1% bandwidth at 1 MeV with a peak instantaneous power of 25 TW and averaged BAM of /photon. The AM conversion efficiency from laser to the γ-photons is unprecedentedly 0.67%.

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Section: Bright γ -Ray Vortex Emissionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Efficient bright γ-ray vortex emission from a laser-illuminated light-fan-in-channel target

Zhang

Zhao

et al. 2021

High Pow Laser Sci Eng

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“…In experiments reaching laser intensities of 10 22 − 10 24 Wcm −2 the effect of strong field QED processes starts to strongly modify the laser-plasma interaction [4][5][6], and better understanding the fundamental physical processes at work will be crucial. One of these processes, the radiation produced by charged particles when moving in an electro-magnetic field, and the subsequent recoil experienced by the particles, is particularly relevant to studies of inverse Compton scattering [7,8] and laser absorption in solid target interactions [9][10][11][12], both of which are key targets of the ELI-NP facility.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal parameters for radiation reaction experiments

Arran

Cole

Gerstmayr

et al. 2019

Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion

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As new laser facilities are developed with intensities on the scale of 10 22 −10 24 Wcm −2 , it becomes ever more important to understand the effect of strong field quantum electrodynamics processes, such as quantum radiation reaction, which will play a dominant role in laser-plasma interactions at these intensities. Recent all-optical experiments, where GeV electrons from a laser wakefield accelerator encountered a counter-propagating laser pulse with a0 > 10, have produced evidence of radiation reaction, but have not conclusively identified quantum effects nor their most suitable theoretical description. Here we show the number of collisions and the conditions required to accomplish this, based on a simulation campaign of radiation reaction experiments under realistic conditions. We conclude that while the critical energy of the photon spectrum distinguishes classical and quantumcorrected models, a better means of distinguishing the stochastic and deterministic quantum models is the change in the electron energy spread. This is robust against shot-to-shot fluctuations and the necessary laser intensity and electron beam energies are already available. For example, we show that so long as the electron energy spread is below 25%, collisions at a0 = 10 with electron energies of 500 MeV could differentiate between different quantum models in under 30 shots, even with shot to shot variations at the 50% level.

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“…Pair plasmas generated by cascades are believed to play an important role in extreme astrophysical contexts such as pulsar magnetospheres and active black holes [19][20][21]. Pair plasmas created during a cascade in a laser-plasma interaction are predicted to couple strongly with the field of a laser leading to near-total absorption of the laser pulse [6,22,23], with consequences for applications of these lasers, for example quenching radiation pressure ion acceleration [24][25][26]. Hence, the experimental realisation of laser-induced cascades will mark the transition to a regime, as yet only inferred in astrophysical environments, where strongfield QED and plasma effects are coupled [12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying the electron–positron cascade regimes in high-intensity laser-matter interactions

2019

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Strong-field quantum electrodynamics predicts electron-seeded electron-positron pair cascades when the electric field in the rest-frame of the seed electron approaches the Sauter-Schwinger field, i.e. h =Ẽ E 1 S RF . Electrons in the focus of next generation multi-PW lasers are expected to reach this threshold. We identify three distinct cascading regimes in the interaction of counter-propagating, circularly-polarised laser pulses with a thin foil by performing a comprehensive scan over the laser intensity (from 10 23 to 5×10 24 W cm −2 ) and initial foil target density (from 10 26 to 10 31 m −3 ). For low densities and intensities the number of pairs grows exponentially. If the intensity and target density are high enough the number density of created pairs reaches the relativistically-corrected critical density, the pair plasma efficiently absorbs the laser energy (through radiation reaction) and the cascade saturates. If the initial density is too high, such that the initial target is overdense, the cascade is suppressed by the skin effect. We derive a semi-analytical model which predicts that dense pair plasmas are endemic features of these interactions for intensities above 10 24 W cm −2 provided the target's relativistic skin-depth is longer than the laser wavelength. Further, it shows that pair production is maximised in near-critical-density targets, providing a guide for near-term experiments.S RF . We can reach η∼1 for laser fields much weaker than E S as the fields themselves can rapidly accelerate electrons to high Lorentz factor, resulting in a strong Lorentz boost to E RF . Pair production by the multi-photon Breit-Wheeler process can occur if the photons emitted during Compton scattering satisfy a similar condition on their quantum efficiency parameter (defined below) χ∼1. An electromagnetic cascade can ensue if many generations of electrons and positrons can be generated by the fields. Usually this occurs via a two-step process whereby the electrons and positrons produced by the Breit-Wheeler process radiate photons by nonlinear Compton scattering which subsequently decay to further pairs and so on.Upcoming facilities, like several of those comprising the extreme light infrastructure (ELI) [1,2], are expected to reach laser intensities of > -

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Modelling the effects of the radiation reaction force on the interaction of thin foils with ultra-intense laser fields

Cited by 17 publications

References 58 publications

Efficient bright γ-ray vortex emission from a laser-illuminated light-fan-in-channel target

Efficient bright γ-ray vortex emission from a laser-illuminated light-fan-in-channel target

Optimal parameters for radiation reaction experiments

Identifying the electron–positron cascade regimes in high-intensity laser-matter interactions

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