title: High e+/e- Ratio Dense Pair Creation with 10(21)W.cm(-2) Laser Irradiating Solid Targets.
abstract: We report results of new pair creation experiments using ~100 Joule pulses of the Texas Petawatt Laser to irradiate solid gold and platinum targets, with intensities up to ~1.9 × 10(21) W.cm(-2) and pulse durations as short as ~130 fs. Positron to electron (e+/e-) ratios >15% were observed for many thick disk and rod targets, with the highest e+/e- ratio reaching ~50% for a Pt rod. The inferred pair yield was ~ few ×10(10) with emerging pair density reaching ~10(15)/cm(3) so that the pair skin depth becomes < pair jet transverse size. These results represent major milestones towards the goal of creating a significant quantity of dense pair-dominated plasmas with e+/e- approaching 100% and pair skin depth ≪ pair plasma size, which will have wide-ranging applications to astrophysics and fundamental physics.
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaguine
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cen
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.|University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hasson
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dyer
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Serratto
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ditmire