Review on laser-driven high-energy polarized electron and positron beams and γ-rays

Abstract

High-energy spin-polarized electron and positron beams and <em>γ</em>-rays have plenty of significant applications in high-energy, laboratory astro- and nuclear physics, and the efficient generation of such polarized beams attracts a broad research interest. Recently, with the rapid development of ultrashort ultraintense laser pulse technology, the modern laser pulses can achieve a peak intensity in a range of 10²²—<inline-formula><tex-math id="M1">\begin{document}$10^{23}$\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="8-20210009_M1.jpg"></graphic><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="8-20210009_M1.png"></graphic></alternatives></inline-formula> W/cm² with a pulse duration of tens of femtoseconds. The interaction mechanisms between such a laser pulse and matter have been spanned from linear regime to nonlinear regime due to multiphoton absorbtion, such as nonlinear Compton scattering and Breit-Wheeler pair production. Employing spin-dependent nonlinear Compton scattering and multiphoton Breit-Wheeler scattering in laser-matter interaction paves a new way for generating the high-polarized high-density high-energy electron and positron beams and <em>γ</em>-rays with tens of femtoseconds in pulse duration. This article briefly reviews the research progress of polarized electron and positron beams and <em>γ</em>-rays generated by laser-matter interaction, and also introduces the principles and main conclusions.