Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hyung Taek Kim, Vishwa Bandhu Pathak, Calin Ioan Hojbota, Mohammad Mirzaie, Ki Hong Pae, Chul Min Kim, Jin Woo Yoon, Jae Hee Sung, Seong Ku Lee
Summary: The article reviews the recent development of multi-GeV electron acceleration with PW lasers and discusses the limitations and prospects of LWFA with high-power lasers.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Zhi-Wei Lu, Qian Zhao, Feng Wan, Bo-Chao Liu, Yong-Sheng Huang, Zhong-Feng Xu, Jian-Xing Li
Summary: The generation of arbitrarily spin polarized muon pairs through polarized e???e+ collision was investigated. It was found that muon pairs with both longitudinal and transverse spin components can be produced due to the flip of mixed helicities along the scattering angle, with the transverse polarization depending on the directions of transverse spins of initial electrons and positrons.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hoon Song, Chul Min Kim, Junho Won, Jaehyun Song, Seongmin Lee, Chang-Mo Ryu, Woosuk Bang, Chang Hee Nam
Summary: This study characterizes an electron-positron beam generated from the interaction of a multi-GeV electron beam with a lead plate using GEANT4 simulations. The dependence of the positron beam size on driver electron beam energy and lead converter thickness is investigated. The findings show that a pancake-like positron beam structure can be generated with a 5 GeV driver electron beam, with a density of 10(15)- 10(16) cm(-3) at one radiation length of lead. The research also explores the possibility of observing plasma instabilities in experiments and the production of a quasi-neutral electron-positron plasma for laboratory astrophysics research.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Zsolt Lecz, Alexander Andreev, Christos Kamperidis, Nasr Hafz
Summary: This research presents a compact and tunable scheme for providing clean and mono-energetic electron bunches with less than one percent energy spread and with central energy on the GeV level. The scheme involves ionization injection with attosecond pulses and acceleration in a capillary plasma wave-guide. Semi-analytical theory and particle-in-cell simulations are used to accurately model the injection and acceleration steps.
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Optics
Yujin Xiang, Shaokang Bai, Zuxing Zhang
Summary: We investigated the generation of cylindrical vector beams (CVBs) from a passively mode-locked Raman fiber laser using nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) and the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) effect. By incorporating a mode-selective coupler (MSC) into the laser, CVBs were successfully generated. The experimental results showed that the CVB output had a central wavelength of 1562 nm with a Raman pump source of 1454 nm, and the polarization state and beam purity were controllable. The flexible wavelength CVB Raman fiber laser has potential applications in optical communications and fiber optics.
OPTICS AND LASER TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
B. Miao, J. E. Shrock, L. Feder, R. C. Hollinger, J. Morrison, R. Nedbailo, A. Picksley, H. Song, S. Wang, J. J. Rocca, H. M. Milchberg
Summary: This paper presents the first demonstration of multi-GeV laser wakefield acceleration in a fully optically formed plasma waveguide. In the experiment, an acceleration gradient as high as 25 GeV/m was achieved in a low-density hydrogen gas jet, with electron bunches of quasimonoenergetic peaks and relative energy width as narrow as 15%. The stability of bunch spectra and charge were found to be strongly dependent on the pointing of the injected laser pulse and gas jet uniformity.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Jian-Xun Liu, Ting Gao, Xu Wang, Hong-Bin Jin, Wei-Qiang Deng, Tai-Yang Liu, Tong-Pu Yu
Summary: A comparative study of four plasma targets was conducted to investigate plasma density during Breit-Wheeler positron generation using the PIC code EPOCH. Increasing the density of the plasma resulted in the generation of more high-energy positrons when an ultra-intense laser was incident. It was demonstrated that increasing density plasmas enhance gamma photon radiation and positron generation, with under-dense plasmas favoring electron acceleration and over-dense plasmas inducing laser reflection. Increasing the laser intensity directly enhanced positron generation. This study will further facilitate the generation and application of high-flux positrons.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Z. M. Zhang, Y. C. Wu, X. H. Zhang, Y. H. Yan, H. Huang, L. B. Meng, W. Qi, B. Zhang, S. K. He, B. Cui, W. Hong, F. Lu, M. H. Yu, K. N. Zhou, J. Q. Su, Y. Q. Gu, W. M. Zhou, S. P. Zhu, B. H. Zhang
Summary: This study demonstrated the generation of high-yield ultrashort MeV positrons through the interaction of a laser with a high-density gas jet, showing potential significance for simulating astrophysical pair plasma.
PLASMA PHYSICS AND CONTROLLED FUSION
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Zhiyong Qin, Wentao Li, Jiaqi Liu, Jiansheng Liu, Wentao Wang, Changhai Yu, Zhijun Zhang, Xinliang Wang, Jinfeng Li, Yuxin Leng, Xiaoyan Liang, Ruxin Li, Zhizhan Xu
Summary: A multi-GeV electron beam with energy up to 3.2 GeV and 9.7% rms energy spread was achieved through a hybrid capillary discharge waveguide and a cascaded laser wakefield acceleration scheme.
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Optics
Yoshihiro Nishigata, Shun Sasaki, Katsuhiko Miyamoto, Takashige Omatsu
Summary: This study demonstrates the cascaded vector vortex mode generation from a Ba(NO3)(2) Raman laser cavity pumped by a vector LG(0,2) green laser, resulting in second-order vector vortex beams with linearly polarized flower-shaped spatial forms with four petals. The achieved optical conversion efficiencies of the first, second, and third Stokes outputs were 6.59%, 4.22%, and 0.11%, respectively, at a maximum pump energy of 3.6 mJ (360mW).
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Joonsuk Park, Kiho Bae, Taeho Roy Kim, Christopher Perez, Aditya Sood, Mehdi Asheghi, Kenneth E. Goodson, Woosung Park
Summary: Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a crucial tool for atomic-scale material characterization, with electron irradiation causing inadvertent heating in materials. This study developed a microscopic model to quantify beam-induced heating and provide guidelines for estimating temperature rise, extending the ability to quantify thermal impact on materials down to the atomic scale.
Article
Optics
Yiping Zhou, Xudong Li, Haobo Xu, Rongwei Fan, Deying Chen, Yugang Jiang, Renpeng Yan
Summary: This paper proposes a methodology to produce a multi-beam sub-nanosecond laser, which generates laser pulses with high energy and peak power, achieving air breakdown with four points using amplification technology and a lens array.
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Y. C. Yang, T. W. Huang, M. Y. Yu, K. Jiang, C. T. Zhou
Summary: A new scheme of generating axial magnetic fields without initial laser angular momentum is proposed, by generating a thin plasma jet with embedded gigagauss axial magnetic fields through the frontal impact of a short linearly polarized laser pulse on an overdense microtube target. Particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate that the space-charge field of the laser expelled tube-front electrons results in the formation of a long-living low-density plasma bunch with gigagauss magnetic fields at the tube entrance. The center of the plasma bunch stretches forward to form a thin gigagauss-magnetized plasma jet that survives for sub-picosecond after the passage of the laser core through the tube.
PHYSICS OF PLASMAS
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Kim Berghaus, Rouven Essig, Yonit Hochberg, Yutaro Shoji, Mukul Sholapurkar
Summary: This study investigates the scattering of high-energy photons from radioactive contaminants in solid-state target materials and their impact on the low-energy background for sub-GeV dark matter direct-detection searches. The results show that this background is most noticeable for energy deposits in the 1-100 meV range and requires active measures to suppress it.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
W. D. R. Jesus, P. R. A. Souza, A. F. Santos, Faqir C. Khanna
Summary: This study investigates a scattering process involving gravitons as an intermediate state using the Gravitoelectromagnetism theory. The theory, which is based on the analogy between gravity and electromagnetism, includes interactions between gravitons, fermions, and photons, enabling the calculation of their scattering amplitudes and cross sections. The gravitational cross section of the e(-) + e(+) -> mu(-) + mu(+) scattering process is obtained and compared to the electromagnetic cross section.
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL PLUS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
M. Jirka, M. Vranic, T. Grismayer, L. O. Silva
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS
(2020)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Felicie Albert, M. E. Couprie, Alexander Debus, Mike C. Downer, Jerome Faure, Alessandro Flacco, Leonida A. Gizzi, Thomas Grismayer, Axel Huebl, Chan Joshi, M. Labat, Wim P. Leemans, Andreas R. Maier, Stuart P. D. Mangles, Paul Mason, Francois Mathieu, Patric Muggli, Mamiko Nishiuchi, Jens Osterhoff, P. P. Rajeev, Ulrich Schramm, Jorg Schreiber, Alec G. R. Thomas, Jean-Luc Vay, Marija Vranic, Karl Zeil
Summary: Plasma-based accelerators use strong magnetic fields to accelerate charged particles to high energies. The research has transitioned from small-scale efforts to international networks of scientists with substantial investment in research infrastructure.
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
E. Boella, R. Bingham, R. A. Cairns, P. Norreys, R. Trines, R. Scott, M. Vranic, N. Shukla, L. O. Silva
Summary: Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations were used to explore collisionless shock acceleration in the plasma surrounding the compressed core of an inertial confinement fusion pellet. It was demonstrated that an intense laser pulse interacting with the plasma corona could launch a collisionless shock around the critical density, suggesting potential for achieving proton characteristics suitable for ion fast ignition. This study is part of a discussion meeting issue on 'Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 2)'.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Sushil Singh, Chris D. Armstrong, Ning Kang, Lei Ren, Huiya Liu, Neng Hua, Dean R. Rusby, Ondrej Klimo, Roberto Versaci, Yan Zhang, Mingying Sun, Baoqiang Zhu, Anle Lei, Xiaoping Ouyang, Livia Lancia, Alejandro Laso Garcia, Andreas Wagner, Thomas Cowan, Jianqiang Zhu, Theodor Schlegel, Stefan Weber, Paul McKenna, David Neely, Vladimir Tikhonchuk, Deepak Kumar
Summary: Relativistic electrons generated by the interaction of petawatt-class short laser pulses with solid targets can be used to generate bright x-rays via bremsstrahlung. The efficiency of laser energy transfer into these electrons depends on multiple parameters including the focused intensity and pre-plasma level. Experimental results from the interaction of a high intensity petawatt-class glass laser pulses with solid targets provide information about the efficiency of laser energy transfer.
PLASMA PHYSICS AND CONTROLLED FUSION
(2021)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Yan-Jun Gu, O. Klimo, V. T. Tikhonchuk, S. Weber
Summary: The study investigates the interaction of sub-relativistic laser beam with underdense plasma through 2D numerical simulations, showing that different parametric instabilities dominate based on the polarization direction of the laser. In the p-polarization plane, two-plasmon decay instability dominates, while in the s-polarization case, stronger absorption and heating of hot electrons are observed. Comparing with a plane laser wave, a narrow beamlet excites filamentation instability, which competes with stimulated Brillouin scattering and affects laser absorption and hot electron generation.
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Fei Li, K. Viktor Decyk, G. Kyle Miller, Adam Tableman, S. Frank Tsung, Marija Vranic, A. Ricardo Fonseca, B. Warren Mori
Summary: Next-generation high-power laser systems are enabling new physics regimes and applications by focusing to ultra-high intensities exceeding 10(23)W/cm(2). Modeling the highly nonlinear and relativistic interactions of these lasers with matter requires the particle-in-cell (PIC) method, which may involve lowest-order quantum effects. To accurately simulate particle motion and spin evolution affected by radiation reaction in strong electromagnetic fields, numerical algorithms that enable high-fidelity modeling of the 9D phase space are desired. The new particle pusher presented in this study, based on analytical solutions, shows improvements in accuracy for particle trajectories in 6D or 9D phase space under given laser fields.
JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Oscar Amaro, Marija Vranic
Summary: The study focuses on collisions between laser beams and electron beams to generate electron-positron pairs, with the challenge of spatial synchronization addressed by using electron beams from an accelerator. Due to the oversimplicity of the plane wave approximation, analytical scaling laws have been extended to consider various shapes and sizes of electron beams.
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
P. Valenta, G. M. Grittani, C. M. Lazzarini, O. Klimo, S. V. Bulanov
Summary: The study found that when high-power short-pulse lasers interact with underdense plasma, transverse electromagnetic rings are formed due to laser radiation defocusing. Through numerical simulations, it was observed that these rings can carry off a significant portion of the initial driver pulse energy and potentially serve as a source of high-energy ring-shaped electron beams.
PHYSICS OF PLASMAS
(2021)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
M. Matys, S. Bulanov, M. Kucharik, M. Jirka, J. Nikl, M. Kecova, J. Proska, J. Psikal, G. Korn, O. Klimo
Summary: This study investigates the application of plasma shutters for heavy ion acceleration driven by high-intensity laser pulses. Simulations show that the shutters can increase the steepness and peak intensity of the laser pulse, leading to enhanced ion acceleration. The effects of prepulses are also examined using a double plasma shutter design.
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Nuclear
Bertrand Martinez, Bernardo Barbosa, Marija Vranic
Summary: Relativistic positron beams are essential for fundamental research in nonlinear strong field QED, plasma physics, and laboratory astrophysics. However, creating and manipulating positrons is challenging due to their short lifetime and limited energy gain in conventional accelerators. In this study, a new setup is proposed to generate, inject, and accelerate positrons during the propagation of an intense laser in a plasma channel. This setup involves a laser-electron collision at 90 degrees and utilizes an 800-nC electron beam loading to reverse the sign of the background electrostatic field, enabling injection and guidance of the positrons. The obtained positron beam has a charge of 17 fC and a central energy at the GeV level within 0.5 mm of plasma.
PHYSICAL REVIEW ACCELERATORS AND BEAMS
(2023)
Review
Optics
Martin Matys, Jan Psikal, Katsunobu Nishihara, Ondrej Klimo, Martin Jirka, Petr Valenta, Sergei V. Bulanov
Summary: In this study, we reviewed our findings on improving ion acceleration quality by using low-Z structured targets driven by high-intensity laser pulses. The dominant mechanism for acceleration is shown to be radiation pressure, which surpasses target normal sheath acceleration under certain laser target parameters. Optimization of target thickness and investigation of double-layer structure were conducted in this regime. The introduction of corrugation on the target interface resulted in a relativistic instability with Rayleigh-Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov features, leading to the generation of a collimated quasi-monoenergetic ion beam with improved properties compared to planar interface targets. Our simulations utilized a steep-front laser pulse to mitigate instabilities arising from laser-target interaction, and we discussed the use of a plasma shutter to generate the required pulse profile and increase intensity locally. The obtained shape demonstrated enhancements in ion acceleration, including higher maximal energy and lower beam divergence, for a high-Z target in our simulation.
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Dominika Maslarova, Bertrand Martinez, Marija Vranic
Summary: Plasma acceleration is a prospective technology for building a compact multi-TeV electron-positron collider. This study focuses on the generation of electron-positron pairs by the nonlinear Breit-Wheeler process. The researchers demonstrate that ultra-high laser intensity plays a crucial role in the positron injection and propose direct laser acceleration of positrons in a plasma channel for energy boost.
PHYSICS OF PLASMAS
(2023)
Article
Optics
D. Ramsey, A. Di Piazza, M. Formanek, P. Franke, D. H. Froula, B. Malaca, W. B. Mori, J. R. Pierce, T. T. Simpson, J. Vieira, M. Vranic, K. Weichman, J. P. Palastro
Summary: Exact analytical solutions to Maxwells equations are presented for the electromagnetic fields of a constant-velocity flying focus in this paper, generalized for arbitrary polarization and orbital angular momentum. The approach combines the complex source-point method with the Lorentz invariance of Maxwell's equations. Propagating the fields backward in space reveals the space-time profile that an optical assembly must produce to realize these fields in the laboratory. Comparisons with simpler paraxial solutions provide conditions for their reliable use when modeling a flying focus.
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
J. Nikl, M. Jirka, M. Matys, M. Kucharik, O. Klimo
Summary: The increasing intensity of laser systems leads to amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) pedestal and other parasitic effects. The use of relativistic plasma shutter can help mitigate these effects and improve the performance of the main pulse.
HIGH POWER LASERS AND APPLICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
M. Jirka, O. Klimo, M. Matys
Summary: A substantial increase in local laser intensity is observed behind a plasma shutter, caused by diffracted light interference and studied through analytical and numerical simulations in the regime of relativistically induced transparency. Theoretical estimates and simulation results suggest that the laser intensity may be increased by an order of magnitude, improving the feasibility of strong field QED research with current laser technology.
PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH
(2021)