Electron-positron pairs can be generated with lasers in various configurations, using either Breit-Wheeler or Bethe-Heitler pair production.
In some cases, the very same laser can provide direct laser acceleration (DLA) of leptons in the radiation reaction dominated regime. The DLA scheme has already provided electron beams of ~nC charge in experiments. Here we show what can be accomplished with near-future laser facilities with a special consideration of L4 beamline at ELI beamlines.
Increasing the laser power is bound to augment the DLA electron charge content even further. The field structure formed due to electron beam loading
allows for accelerating positrons without defocusing them. What is more, the interaction in the radiation dominated regime will provide a high flux of
emitted photons, in hard x-ray and gamma-ray range. These photons can then be used as a seed for electron-positron pair creation, as well as a radiation source for applications.
This work was supported by FCT grants CEECIND/01906/2018, PTDC/FISPLA/3800/2021. We acknowledge PRACE for granting access to MareNostrum in BSC, Spain.
KEYWORDS: Electrons, Pulsed laser operation, Simulation of CCA and DLA aggregates, Plasmas, Laser applications, Optical simulations, Laser development, Statistical analysis, Laser energy
Electrons can be accelerated to multi-GeV energies by the mechanism called Direct laser acceleration. The acceleration is secured by the resonance between betatron oscillations in the plasma channel and doppler-shifted oscillations in the laser field. We propose the scaling of electron energy that can be achieved by the mechanism as a function of laser intensity and plasma density. The scaling is in good agreement with quasi-3D particle-in-cell simulations. Also, the role of a laser spotsize in the acceleration is demonstrated which allows us to estimate the optimal laser focusing which maximizes electron energy.
Radiation reaction can severely affect the motion of ultra-relativistic particles in intense electromagnetic fields. Here, we study particle-in-cell (PIC) methods of kinetic modeling of radiation reaction in classical and quantum regimes. We test the methods of photon emission from highly energetic particles moving in strong electromagnetic field in two open-source PIC codes Smilei and EPOCH. We benchmark the codes and discuss the differences.
We study beam loading of electrons accelerated via the process of direct laser acceleration under the conditions of preformed plasma channels irradiated by ultra-intense laser pulses using analytical methods and particle-incell simulations in quasi-cylindrical geometry. We find the rates at which the electrons populate the beam for multi-petawatt peak power laser drivers. We show that the majority of accelerated electrons originate at the interface between the channel interior and channel wall and outline the underlying physical mechanism.
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