All-optical nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production with $γ$-flash photons

Abstract

High-power laser facilities give experimental access to fundamental strong-field quantum electrodynamics processes. A key effect to be explored is the nonlinear Breit-Wheeler process: the conversion of high-energy photons into electron-positron pairs through the interaction with a strong electromagnetic field. A major challenge to observing nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production experimentally is first having a suitable source of high-energy photons. In this paper we outline a simple all-optical setup which efficiently generates photons through the so-called $γ$-flash mechanism by irradiating a solid target with a high-power laser. We consider the collision of these photons with a secondary laser, and systematically discuss the prospects for exploring the nonlinear Breit-Wheeler process at current and next-generation high-power laser facilities.