DOI

Current laser technology allows the production of extremely high laser intensities and brings ever closer experimental probing of quantum electro-dynamic effects e.g. radiation reaction and electron-positron pair creation via the multiphoton Breit-Wheeler process. The exponential dependence of the latter process on laser intensity means that the process appears suddenly above some threshold, which is still not well defined in the case of laser-plasma interactions. The threshold intensity for the generation of a significant number of positrons is shown to be in the order 1022 W cm-2, when optimal target properties, as presented in this paper, are considered. With the help of a modified particle-in-cell code, the detailed angular-energy distribution of positrons is presented, which is in good agreement with our simple analytical model.

Original languageEnglish
Article number045005
JournalPlasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Volume61
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 25 Feb 2019

    Research areas

  • electron-positron pair creation, high intensity laser pulses, laser-plasma interaction, particle-in-cell simulations

    Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Condensed Matter Physics

ID: 53219903