Collimated γ-flash emission along the target surface irradiated by a laser at non-grazing incidence

The interaction of a high-power laser with a solid target provides ways to produce beams of γ -photons. For normal incidence of the laser on the target the beams usually appear in a form of two lobes, which are symmetric with respect to the laser propagation axis. In this work we demonstrate via thr...

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Main Authors: M Matys, P Hadjisolomou, R Shaisultanov, P Valenta, M Lamač, T M Jeong, J P Thistlewood, C P Ridgers, A S Pirozhkov, S V Bulanov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:New Journal of Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/adbd68
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author M Matys
P Hadjisolomou
R Shaisultanov
P Valenta
M Lamač
T M Jeong
J P Thistlewood
C P Ridgers
A S Pirozhkov
S V Bulanov
author_facet M Matys
P Hadjisolomou
R Shaisultanov
P Valenta
M Lamač
T M Jeong
J P Thistlewood
C P Ridgers
A S Pirozhkov
S V Bulanov
author_sort M Matys
collection DOAJ
description The interaction of a high-power laser with a solid target provides ways to produce beams of γ -photons. For normal incidence of the laser on the target the beams usually appear in a form of two lobes, which are symmetric with respect to the laser propagation axis. In this work we demonstrate via three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations a regime where for oblique incidence the emission of a collimated γ -photon beam is in the direction parallel to the target surface. The process is ascribed to the interference pattern in the electromagnetic field formed by the incident and reflected laser pulse. The electromagnetic field accelerates electrons to the GeV energy level, while temporarily directing their momentum along the target surface. Consequently, they emit a collimated γ -photon beam in the same direction. The dependencies of γ -photon emission on the incident angle, laser pulse polarization, power and duration and target thickness and preplasma are also addressed in the paper. The beam directionality is important for designing future experiments. In addition, this setup causes the generation of high-order harmonics propagating along the target surface.
format Article
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issn 1367-2630
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher IOP Publishing
record_format Article
series New Journal of Physics
spelling doaj-art-847c67dcb0494cd8b07d2d8ad867efc82025-08-20T02:52:59ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302025-01-0127303301810.1088/1367-2630/adbd68Collimated γ-flash emission along the target surface irradiated by a laser at non-grazing incidenceM Matys0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6215-4246P Hadjisolomou1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1170-7397R Shaisultanov2P Valenta3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1067-3762M Lamač4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9218-6073T M Jeong5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7206-2401J P Thistlewood6https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4677-0457C P Ridgers7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4078-0887A S Pirozhkov8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6183-1383S V Bulanov9https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8305-0289ELI Beamlines Facility, The Extreme Light infrastructure ERIC , Za Radnici 835, 25241 Dolni Brezany, Czech RepublicELI Beamlines Facility, The Extreme Light infrastructure ERIC , Za Radnici 835, 25241 Dolni Brezany, Czech RepublicELI Beamlines Facility, The Extreme Light infrastructure ERIC , Za Radnici 835, 25241 Dolni Brezany, Czech RepublicELI Beamlines Facility, The Extreme Light infrastructure ERIC , Za Radnici 835, 25241 Dolni Brezany, Czech RepublicELI Beamlines Facility, The Extreme Light infrastructure ERIC , Za Radnici 835, 25241 Dolni Brezany, Czech RepublicELI Beamlines Facility, The Extreme Light infrastructure ERIC , Za Radnici 835, 25241 Dolni Brezany, Czech RepublicELI Beamlines Facility, The Extreme Light infrastructure ERIC , Za Radnici 835, 25241 Dolni Brezany, Czech Republic; Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United KingdomYork Plasma Institute, Department of Physics, University of York , Heslington, York, North Yorkshire YO10 5DD, United KingdomKansai Institute for Photon Science (KPSI), National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) , 8-1-7 Umemidai, Kizugawa-shi, Kyoto 619-0215, JapanELI Beamlines Facility, The Extreme Light infrastructure ERIC , Za Radnici 835, 25241 Dolni Brezany, Czech RepublicThe interaction of a high-power laser with a solid target provides ways to produce beams of γ -photons. For normal incidence of the laser on the target the beams usually appear in a form of two lobes, which are symmetric with respect to the laser propagation axis. In this work we demonstrate via three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations a regime where for oblique incidence the emission of a collimated γ -photon beam is in the direction parallel to the target surface. The process is ascribed to the interference pattern in the electromagnetic field formed by the incident and reflected laser pulse. The electromagnetic field accelerates electrons to the GeV energy level, while temporarily directing their momentum along the target surface. Consequently, they emit a collimated γ -photon beam in the same direction. The dependencies of γ -photon emission on the incident angle, laser pulse polarization, power and duration and target thickness and preplasma are also addressed in the paper. The beam directionality is important for designing future experiments. In addition, this setup causes the generation of high-order harmonics propagating along the target surface.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/adbd68γ-photonsoblique incidenceparticle-in-celllaser-mater interactionγ-flashcollimated photons
spellingShingle M Matys
P Hadjisolomou
R Shaisultanov
P Valenta
M Lamač
T M Jeong
J P Thistlewood
C P Ridgers
A S Pirozhkov
S V Bulanov
Collimated γ-flash emission along the target surface irradiated by a laser at non-grazing incidence
New Journal of Physics
γ-photons
oblique incidence
particle-in-cell
laser-mater interaction
γ-flash
collimated photons
title Collimated γ-flash emission along the target surface irradiated by a laser at non-grazing incidence
title_full Collimated γ-flash emission along the target surface irradiated by a laser at non-grazing incidence
title_fullStr Collimated γ-flash emission along the target surface irradiated by a laser at non-grazing incidence
title_full_unstemmed Collimated γ-flash emission along the target surface irradiated by a laser at non-grazing incidence
title_short Collimated γ-flash emission along the target surface irradiated by a laser at non-grazing incidence
title_sort collimated γ flash emission along the target surface irradiated by a laser at non grazing incidence
topic γ-photons
oblique incidence
particle-in-cell
laser-mater interaction
γ-flash
collimated photons
url https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/adbd68
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