High density ultrashort relativistic positron beam generation by laser-plasma interaction

A mechanism of high energy and high density positron beam creation is proposed in ultra-relativistic laser-plasma interaction. Longitudinal electron self-injection into a strong laser field occurs in order to maintain the balance between the ponderomotive potential and the electrostatic potential. T...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:New journal of physics 2016-11, Vol.18 (11), p.113023
Main Authors: Gu, Y J, Klimo, O, Weber, S, Korn, G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
52.27.Ny
52.35.Kt
52.38.Ph
Collimation
Computer simulation
Laser beams
Laser plasma interactions
laser-plasma interaction
Lasers
pair creation
Particle in cell technique
Photon emission
Photons
Physics
Plasma density
Plasma interactions
Positron beams
radation reaction effect
Relativism
Relativistic effects
Single electrons
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Summary:A mechanism of high energy and high density positron beam creation is proposed in ultra-relativistic laser-plasma interaction. Longitudinal electron self-injection into a strong laser field occurs in order to maintain the balance between the ponderomotive potential and the electrostatic potential. The injected electrons are trapped and form a regular layer structure. The radiation reaction and photon emission provide an additional force to confine the electrons in the laser pulse. The threshold density to initiate the longitudinal electron self-injection is obtained from analytical model and agrees with the kinetic simulations. The injected electrons generate γ-photons which counter-propagate into the laser pulse. Via the Breit-Wheeler process, well collimated positron bunches in the GeV range are generated of the order of the critical plasma density and the total charge is about nano-Coulomb. The above mechanisms are demonstrated by particle-in-cell simulations and single electron dynamics.
ISSN:1367-2630
1367-2630
DOI:10.1088/1367-2630/18/11/113023