Laser opacity in underdense preplasma of solid targets due to quantum electrodynamics effects

Abstract

We investigate how next-generation laser pulses at 10 PW $-$ 200 PW interact with a solid target in the presence of a relativistically underdense preplasma produced by amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). Laser hole boring and relativistic transparency are strongly restrained due to the generation of electron-positron pairs and $\gamma$-ray photons via quantum electrodynamics (QED) processes. A pair plasma with a density above the initial preplasma density is formed, counteracting the electron-free channel produced by the hole boring. This pair-dominated plasma can block the laser transport and trigger an avalanche-like QED cascade, efficiently transfering the laser energy to photons. This renders a 1-$\mu \mathrm{m}$-scalelength, underdense preplasma completely opaque to laser pulses at this power level. The QED-induced opacity therefore sets much higher contrast requirements for such pulse in solid-target experiments than expected by classical plasma physics. Our simulations show for example, that proton acceleration from the rear of a solid with a preplasma would be strongly impaired.

arXiv comment5 figures

References in corpus (17)

• Radiation Pressure Dominate Regime of Relativistic Ion Acceleration
• Radiation Pressure Acceleration of Thin Foils with Circularly Polarized Laser Pulses
• Prolific pair production with high-power lasers
• Dense Electron-Positron Plasmas and Ultra-Intense Bursts of Gamma-Rays from Laser-Irradiated Solids
• QED cascades induced by circularly polarized laser fields
• Limitations on the attainable intensity of high power lasers
• Radiation Reaction Effects on Radiation Pressure Acceleration
• Laser Ion Acceleration Scaling Laws Seen in Muti-Parametric PIC Simulations
• On the Schwinger limit attainability with extreme power lasers
• Laser absorption via QED cascades in counter propagating laser pulses
• Pair Creation in QED-Strong Pulsed Laser Fields Interacting with Electron Beams
• Seeded QED cascades in counter propagating laser pulses
• The effect of non-linear quantum electrodynamics on relativistic transparency and laser absorption in ultra-relativistic plasmas
• Production and dynamics of positrons in ultrahigh intensity laser-foil interactions
• Integrated simulation approach for laser-driven fast ignition
• Modelling arbitrarily shaped and tightly focused laser pulses in electromagnetic codes
• Modeling of photon and pair production due to quantum electrodynamics effects in particle-in-cell simulation

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Charged particle motion and radiation in strong electromagnetic fields
• Collimated Ultra-Bright Gamma-Rays from a PW-Laser-Driven Wire Wiggler
• Dense Polarized Positrons from Laser-Irradiated Foil Targets in the QED Regime
• Spin and polarization effects on the nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production in laser-plasma interaction
• Optimal Parameters for Radiation Reaction Experiments
• From linear to nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production in laser-solid interactions
• Upper Field Strength Limit of Fast Radio Bursts
• Spin-polarized ${}^3$He shock waves from a solid-gas composite target at high laser intensities
• Guided propagation of extremely intense lasers in plasma via ion motion
• Effects of hole-boring and relativistic transparency on particle acceleration in overdense plasma irradiated by short multi-PW laser pulses