Possibility of prolific pair production with high-power lasers

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Nov 14;101(20):200403. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.200403. Epub 2008 Nov 11.

Abstract

Prolific electron-positron pair production is possible at laser intensities approaching 10;{24} W cm;{-2} at a wavelength of 1 mum. An analysis of electron trajectories and interactions at the nodes (B=0) of two counterpropagating, circularly polarized laser beams shows that a cascade of gamma rays and pairs develops. The geometry is generalized qualitatively to linear polarization and laser beams incident on a solid target.