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

Abstract

High-energy spin-polarized electron and positron beams and γ-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—1023 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 γ-rays with tens of femtoseconds in pulse duration. This article briefly reviews the research progress of polarized electron and positron beams and γ-rays generated by laser-matter interaction, and also introduces the principles and main conclusions.