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Relativistic Quasimonoenergetic Positron Jets from Intense Laser-Solid Interactions

Source: Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 015003 (2010); doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.015003

Published 1 July 2010

PACS
  • 52.38.Ph
    X-ray, γ-ray and particle generation by lasers in plasmas
  • 52.59.-f
    Intense particle beams and radiation sources in plasmas
  • YEAR: 2010
PUBLICATION DATA
ISSN:
1553-9601 (online)
Publisher:
AIP is a member of CrossRef APS
Hui Chen,1 S. C. Wilks,1 D. D. Meyerhofer,2,3 J. Bonlie,1 C. D. Chen,1 S. N. Chen,1 C. Courtois,4 L. Elberson,1 G. Gregori,5 W. Kruer,1 O. Landoas,4 J. Mithen,5 J. Myatt,2 C. D. Murphy,5 P. Nilson,2 D. Price,1 M. Schneider,1 R. Shepherd,1 C. Stoeckl,2 M. Tabak,1 R. Tommasini,1 and P. Beiersdorfer1
1Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA
2Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA
3Department of Mechanical Engineering and Physics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA
4CEA, DAM, DIF, F-91297 Arpajon, France
5Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
Detailed angle and energy resolved measurements of positrons ejected from the back of a gold target that was irradiated with an intense picosecond duration laser pulse reveal that the positrons are ejected in a collimated relativistic jet. The laser-positron energy conversion efficiency is ~2×10-4. The jets have ~20 degree angular divergence and the energy distributions are quasimonoenergetic with energy of 4 to 20 MeV and a beam temperature of ~1 MeV. The sheath electric field on the surface of the target is shown to determine the positron energy. The positron angular and energy distribution is controlled by varying the sheath field, through the laser conditions and target geometry. ©2010 The American Physical Society
History: Received 15 January 2010; published 1 July 2010
Permalink: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v105/e015003
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