Date: Wednesday 18th January 2006
Title: Acceleration of particles with lasers at RAL
Speaker: Dr Peter A. Norreys (Central Laser Facility, RAL Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London)
Abstract
Recent advances in laser technologies have allowed unprecedented intensities on target to be realised in the laboratory. The electric field in the focus of a PW laser pulse, as currently produced by the Vulcan laser facility at RAL, approaches 10^12 V cm^{-1} at intensities of 10^21 W cm^{-2}. Electrons oscillate in these electric fields with relativistic energies and longitudinal electric fields of GeV m^{-1} are generated in low density plasmas. These have led to the recent observation of monoenergetic electron bunches of 100 MeV in a mm-sized plasmas, and similar energy ion beams from laser irradiated thin foil targets. In this talk , I will lay out the physics of laser-based electron and ion acceleration processes,describe some of the exciting results obtained at RAL over the past few years and outline the potential applications of these novel laser-driven accelerators.
This Particle Physics Seminar will take place in Seminar Room Q12, Poynting Physics , at 1315. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be served at 1300.