Plasma physics articles within Nature Photonics

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  • News & Views |

    Modelling shows how plasma density gradients can be tailored to compress optical pulses in the final stages of laser systems towards exawatt (1018 W) peak powers.

    • Brendan Dromey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Researchers propose a laser pulse compression method for exawatt to zettawatt lasers based on spatially varying dispersion of an inhomogeneous plasma. This may enable, for example, pulse compression of a laser pulse from 2.35 ps to 10.3 fs. The approach is robust at high intensities.

    • Min Sup Hur
    • , Bernhard Ersfeld
    •  & Hyyong Suk

  • News & Views |

    Enhancement of laser energy conversion into X-rays is obtained using a target made by entwined carbon nanotubes.

    • Andrea Macchi
    •  & Francesco Pegoraro

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A terawatt laser filament is shown to be able to guide lightning over a distance of 50 m in field trials on the Säntis mountain in the Swiss Alps.

    • Aurélien Houard
    • , Pierre Walch
    •  & Jean-Pierre Wolf

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Researchers demonstrate a laser-plasma accelerator-driven free-electron laser in a seeded configuration, where control over the radiation wavelength and longitudinal coherence are achieved.

    • Marie Labat
    • , Jurjen Couperus Cabadağ
    •  & Marie-Emmanuelle Couprie

  • Article |

    By focusing a sub-relativistic infrared laser pulse onto a silica target, a periodic deflection pattern of attosecond electron pulse trains is observed. It reveals these subcycle charge dynamics with a streaking speed of ~60 μrad as−1.

    • Chuliang Zhou
    • , Yafeng Bai
    •  & Zhizhan Xu

  • News & Views |

    Gold atoms are stripped of 72 of their electrons to form nitrogen-like Au72+ ions inside extremely hot plasmas by irradiating gold foils and nanowires with highly relativistic femtosecond laser pulses.

    • Lap Van Dao
    •  & Peter Hannaford

  • News & Views |

    New methods to control how laser pulses propagate inside a plasma could signify the start of a global race to demonstrate truly high-energy compact particle accelerators.

    • Rob J. Shalloo
    •  & Stuart P. D. Mangles

  • Letter |

    The generation of gamma-ray flashes by dense ultra-relativistic electron beams travelling across a millimetre-thickness solid conductor is theoretically investigated. Peak brilliance above 1025 photons s−1 mrad−2 mm−2 per 0.1% bandwidth is expected.

    • Alberto Benedetti
    • , Matteo Tamburini
    •  & Christoph H. Keitel

  • Letter |

    By combining a chromatic focusing system with chirped laser pulses, the spatiotemporal distribution of the laser pulse is controlled in the focal region. The focal spot propagates over nearly 100 times its Rayleigh length at any velocity.

    • Dustin H. Froula
    • , David Turnbull
    •  & Jessica L. Shaw

  • Letter |

    A laser–plasma accelerator delivering 5-MeV electrons at kHz repetition rate is demonstrated. It is achieved in the laser-wakefield-acceleration regime by using a multi-mJ laser system delivering near-single-cycle laser pulses of 3.4-fs duration.

    • D. Guénot
    • , D. Gustas
    •  & J. Faure

  • Interview |

    Oliver Pike explains to Nature Photonics that the so far elusive electron–positron pair production from light may now be possible using existing technology.

    • David Pile

  • News & Views |

    Laser systems designed for fusion research are able to produce a high density of X-ray photons in a metal cavity. Scientists have now proposed that this environment could be used to create matter from light and test a fundamental prediction of quantum electrodynamics.

    • Alexander Thomas

  • Letter |

    A new ‘photon–photon collider’, which may enable elusive Breit–Wheeler pair production in an optics laboratory setting, is predicted. Using this concept, it is potentially possible to produce 105 Breit–Wheeler electron–positron pairs by firing a gamma-ray beam into a high-temperature radiation field of a laser-heated hohlraum cavity.

    • O. J. Pike
    • , F. Mackenroth
    •  & S. J. Rose

  • News & Views |

    The realization of an X-ray laser plasma amplifier using a stretched X-ray pulse leads to higher intensity and better quality X-ray laser pulses.

    • Masaharu Nishikino
    •  & Tetsuya Kawachi

  • Letter |

    The first X-ray-pump–X-ray-probe measurement of the nonlinear response of a plasma amplifier perturbed by a ultrashort soft-X-ray pulse is demonstrated. Two time-delayed 18.9-nm-wavelength pulses were incident on a plasma, and the gain depletion induced by saturated amplification of the pump was measured with a femtosecond resolution.

    • Y. Wang
    • , S. Wang
    •  & J. J. Rocca

  • News & Views |

    Vertically aligned nanowires on a solid surface in conjunction with table-top lasers create an ultrahigh-energy-density plasma with extremely high ionization in the laboratory.

    • Lap Van Dao
    •  & Peter Hannaford

  • Review Article |

    Laser-driven plasma accelerators have the potential to replace existing particle accelerators, as they are highly efficient systems that are orders of magnitude smaller than conventional particle accelerators. This review discusses recent progress and future challenges in this area.

    • S. M. Hooker

  • Letter |

    Femtosecond laser pulses were used to heat dense matter, converting it into an extremely hot plasma. 52-times ionized gold was achieved as well as gigabar pressures, which can be exceeded only in the central hot spots of thermonuclear fusion plasmas.

    • Michael A. Purvis
    • , Vyacheslav N. Shlyaptsev
    •  & Jorge J. Rocca

  • Commentary |

    Could massive arrays of thousands of fibre lasers be the driving force behind next-generation particle accelerators? The International Coherent Amplification Network project believes so and is currently performing a feasibility study.

    • Gerard Mourou
    • , Bill Brocklesby
    •  & Jens Limpert

  • Letter |

    Scientists demonstrate a Compton-based electromagnetic source based on a laser-plasma accelerator and a plasma mirror. The source generates a broadband spectrum of X-rays and is 10,000 times brighter than Compton X-ray sources based on conventional accelerators.

    • K. Ta Phuoc
    • , S. Corde
    •  & A. Rousse

  • News & Views |

    A main attraction of laser-driven electron accelerators is their absence of cavity walls, which can break down in the presence of intense electric fields. Now it seems that the inclusion of a hollow glass fibre cavity could lead to more efficient acceleration at lower laser intensities.

    • Donald P. Umstadter

  • Editorial |

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