Generation of ultra-intense gamma-ray train by QED harmonics

Abstract

In nonlinear media, photons may combine into a photon of energy and momentum of all those photons. This process, called harmonic generation, happens in nonlinear crystal, gas, and relativistic plasma. When the laser intensity reaches 1022 W/cm2, QED effects appear and play a significant role in the harmonic generation. In contrast to the gas and relativistic high-order harmonic generation processes, harmonics influenced by QED effects are usually not coherent because of the characteristic of random radiation, while the property of high intensity and ultra-short duration is conserved. In this work, the generation of high-order harmonics with QED effects is investigated by one- and two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Studies have shown that interacting with a laser pulse with the intensity of I=5.35×1023 W/cm2, such harmonics can produce ultra-short gamma-ray train with periodic structures. The period of gamma-ray train is half of the laser period, and the peak intensity is 1.4×1022 W/cm2 from one-dimensional simulation when ions are considered immobile. This new harmonic production with QED effects are crucial to light-matter interaction in strong field and can be verified in experiments by 10 PW laser facilities in the near future.