title: Scaling the yield of laser-driven electron-positron jets to laboratory astrophysical applications.
abstract: We report new experimental results obtained on three different laser facilities that show directed laser-driven relativistic electron-positron jets with up to 30 times larger yields than previously obtained and a quadratic (∼E_{L}^{2}) dependence of the positron yield on the laser energy. This favorable scaling stems from a combination of higher energy electrons due to increased laser intensity and the recirculation of MeV electrons in the mm-thick target. Based on this scaling, first principles simulations predict the possibility of using such electron-positron jets, produced at upcoming high-energy laser facilities, to probe the physics of relativistic collisionless shocks in the laboratory.
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California 94550, USA.|SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fiuza
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Link
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hazi
authors.affiliation: Directorate of Science and Technology, AWE plc, Reading RG7 4PR, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Directorate of Science and Technology, AWE plc, Reading RG7 4PR, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoarty
authors.affiliation: Directorate of Science and Technology, AWE plc, Reading RG7 4PR, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: University of Alberta, Alberta T6G 2R3, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Meyerhofer
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Myatt
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sentoku
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California 94550, USA.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Williams