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arXiv · 1706.04153

Efficient ion acceleration and dense electron-positron plasma creation in ultra-high intensity laser-solid interactions

D. Del Sorbo·D. R. Blackman·R. Capdessus·K. Small·C. Slade-Lowther·W. Luo·M. J. Duff·A. P. L. Robinson·P. McKenna·Z. -M. Sheng·J. Pasley·C. P. Ridgers
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Abstract

The radiation pressure of next generation ultra-high intensity ($>10^{23}$ W/cm$^{2}$) lasers could efficiently accelerate ions to GeV energies. However, nonlinear quantum-electrodynamic effects play an important role in the interaction of these laser pulses with matter. Here we show that these effects may lead to the production of an extremely dense ($\sim10^{24}$ cm$^{-3}$) pair-plasma which absorbs the laser pulse consequently reducing the accelerated ion energy and energy conversion efficiency by up to 30-50\% \& 50-65\%, respectively. Thus we identify the regimes of laser-matter interaction where either ions are efficiently accelerated or dense pair-plasmas are produced as a guide for future experiments.

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D. Del Sorbo, D. R. Blackman, R. Capdessus, K. Small, C. Slade-Lowther, W. Luo, M. J. Duff, A. P. L. Robinson, P. McKenna, Z. -M. Sheng, J. Pasley, C. P. Ridgers. 2017-06-13. Efficient ion acceleration and dense electron-positron plasma creation in ultra-high intensity laser-solid interactions. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aaae61

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