中国物理B ›› 2017, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (3): 35202-035202.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/26/3/035202

• PHYSICS OF GASES, PLASMAS, AND ELECTRIC DISCHARGES • 上一篇    下一篇

Dense pair plasma generation by two laser pulses colliding in a cylinder channel

Jian-Xun Liu(刘建勋), Yan-Yun Ma(马燕云), Tong-Pu Yu(余同普), Jun Zhao(赵军), Xiao-Hu Yang(杨晓虎), De-Bin Zou(邹德滨), Guo-Bo Zhang(张国博), Yuan Zhao(赵媛), Jing-Kang Yang(杨靖康), Han-Zhen Li(李汉臻), Hong-Bin Zhuo(卓红斌), Fu-Qiu Shao(邵福球), Shigeo Kawata   

  1. 1 College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China;
    2 College of Electronic Engineering, Wuhan 430019, China;
    3 IFSA Collaborative Innovation Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China;
    4 Laser Fusion Research Center, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621000, China;
    5 Center for Optical Research and Education, Graduate School of Engineering, Utsunomiya University, 7-1-2 Yohtoh, Utsunomiya 321-8585, Japan
  • 收稿日期:2016-08-28 修回日期:2016-11-14 出版日期:2017-03-05 发布日期:2017-03-05
  • 通讯作者: Yan-Yun Ma, Tong-Pu Yu E-mail:yanyunma@126.com;tongpu@nudt.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 11475260, 11305264, 11622547, 11375265, and 11474360), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2013CBA01504), the Research Project of National University of Defense Technology, China (Contract No. JC14-02-02), and the Science Challenge Program, China (Grant No. JCKY2016212A505).

Dense pair plasma generation by two laser pulses colliding in a cylinder channel

Jian-Xun Liu(刘建勋)1,2, Yan-Yun Ma(马燕云)1,3,4, Tong-Pu Yu(余同普)1,3, Jun Zhao(赵军)1, Xiao-Hu Yang(杨晓虎)1, De-Bin Zou(邹德滨)1, Guo-Bo Zhang(张国博)1, Yuan Zhao(赵媛)1, Jing-Kang Yang(杨靖康)1, Han-Zhen Li(李汉臻)1, Hong-Bin Zhuo(卓红斌)1, Fu-Qiu Shao(邵福球)1, Shigeo Kawata5   

  1. 1 College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China;
    2 College of Electronic Engineering, Wuhan 430019, China;
    3 IFSA Collaborative Innovation Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China;
    4 Laser Fusion Research Center, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621000, China;
    5 Center for Optical Research and Education, Graduate School of Engineering, Utsunomiya University, 7-1-2 Yohtoh, Utsunomiya 321-8585, Japan
  • Received:2016-08-28 Revised:2016-11-14 Online:2017-03-05 Published:2017-03-05
  • Contact: Yan-Yun Ma, Tong-Pu Yu E-mail:yanyunma@126.com;tongpu@nudt.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 11475260, 11305264, 11622547, 11375265, and 11474360), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2013CBA01504), the Research Project of National University of Defense Technology, China (Contract No. JC14-02-02), and the Science Challenge Program, China (Grant No. JCKY2016212A505).

摘要: An all-optical scheme for high-density pair plasmas generation is proposed by two laser pulses colliding in a cylinder channel. Two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that, when the first laser pulse propagates in the cylinder, electrons are extracted out of the cylinder inner wall and accelerated to high energies. These energetic electrons later run into the second counter-propagating laser pulse, radiating a large amount of high-energy gamma photons via the Compton back-scattering process. The emitted gamma photons then collide with the second laser pulse to initiate the Breit-Wheeler process for pairs production. Due to the strong self-generated fields in the cylinder, positrons are confined in the channel to form dense pair plasmas. Totally, the maximum density of pair plasmas can be 4.60×1027 m-3, for lasers with an intensity of 4×1022 W·cm-2. Both the positron yield and density are tunable by changing the cylinder radius and the laser parameters. The generated dense pair plasmas can further facilitate investigations related to astrophysics and particle physics.

关键词: pair plasma, laser pulse, simulation

Abstract: An all-optical scheme for high-density pair plasmas generation is proposed by two laser pulses colliding in a cylinder channel. Two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that, when the first laser pulse propagates in the cylinder, electrons are extracted out of the cylinder inner wall and accelerated to high energies. These energetic electrons later run into the second counter-propagating laser pulse, radiating a large amount of high-energy gamma photons via the Compton back-scattering process. The emitted gamma photons then collide with the second laser pulse to initiate the Breit-Wheeler process for pairs production. Due to the strong self-generated fields in the cylinder, positrons are confined in the channel to form dense pair plasmas. Totally, the maximum density of pair plasmas can be 4.60×1027 m-3, for lasers with an intensity of 4×1022 W·cm-2. Both the positron yield and density are tunable by changing the cylinder radius and the laser parameters. The generated dense pair plasmas can further facilitate investigations related to astrophysics and particle physics.

Key words: pair plasma, laser pulse, simulation

中图分类号:  (Laser-plasma interactions)

  • 52.38.-r
32.80.Wr (Other multiphoton processes)