2023/08/15 by L. Q. Han, Han, L. Q., Jianqing Cai +9
Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic and Molecular Physics #FOS: Physical sciences #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications #Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2308.07852
openalex publication_date 2023/08/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We report a proposal to observe the two-photon Breit-Wheeler process in plasma driven by compact lasers. A high charge electron bunch can be generated from laser plasma wakefield acceleration when a tightly focused laser pulse transports in a sub-critical density plasma. The electron bunch scatters with the laser pulse coming from the opposite direction and results the emitting of high brilliance X-ray pulses. In a three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation with a laser pulse of ∼10 J, one could produce a X-ray pulse with photon number higher than 3×1011 and brilliance above 1.6× 1023 photons/s/mm2/mrad2/0.1%BW at 1 MeV. The X-ray pulses collide in the plasma and create more than 1.1× 105 electron-positron pairs per shot. It is also found that the positrons can be accelerated transversely by a transverse electric field generated in the plasma, which enables the safe detection in the direction away from the laser pulses. This proposal which has solved key challenges in laser driven photon-photon collision could demonstrate the two-photon Breit-Wheeler process on a much more compact device in a single shot.