Positron generation and acceleration in a self-organized photon collider enabled by an ultra-intense laser pulse

• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2307.13487
• Publication Date: 2023-01-01
• Authors: K. Sugimoto; Yutong He; Natsumi Iwata; I-Lin Yeh; Kavin Tangtarthar...; Alexey Arefiev; Y. Sentoku
• Keywords: Annihilation; Plasma acceleration

We discovered a simple regime where near-critical plasma irradiated by laser of experimentally available intensity can self-organize to produce positrons and accelerate them ultra-relativistic energies. The pulse piles up electrons at its leading edge, producing strong longitudinal electric field. field creates moving gamma-ray collider that generates via the linear Breit-Wheeler process -- annihilation two gamma-rays into an electron-positron pair. At same time, field, rather than laser, serves as accelerator for positrons. discovery positron acceleration was enabled first-of-its-kind kinetic simulation pairs photon-photon collisions. Using intensities $10^{22}$$\ $$\rm W/cm^2$, generate GeV beam with divergence angle $\sim10^{\circ}$ total charge 0.1$\ $pC. result paves way experimental observation applications requiring beams.