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arXiv · 2007.05325

Plasma mirrors as a path to the Schwinger limit

L. Chopineau·A. Denoeud·A. Leblanc·E. Porat·Ph. Martin·H. Vincenti·F. Quéré
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Abstract

Reaching light intensities above $10^{25}$ W/cm$^{2}$ and up to the Schwinger limit ($10^{29}$ W/cm$^{2}$) would enable testing decades-old fundamental predictions of Quantum Electrodynamics. A promising yet challenging approach to achieve such extreme fields consists in reflecting a high-power femtosecond laser pulse off a curved relativistic mirror. This enhances the intensity of the reflected beam by simultaneously compressing it in time down to the attosecond range, and focusing it to sub-micron focal spots. Here we show that such curved relativistic mirrors can be produced when an ultra-intense laser pulse ionizes a solid target and creates a dense plasma that specularly reflects the incident light. This is evidenced by measuring for the first time the temporal and spatial effects induced on the reflected beam by this so-called 'plasma mirror'. The all-optical measurement technique demonstrated here will be instrumental for the use of relativistic plasma mirrors with the emerging generation of Petawatt lasers, which constitutes a viable experimental path to the Schwinger limit.

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L. Chopineau, A. Denoeud, A. Leblanc, E. Porat, Ph. Martin, H. Vincenti, F. Quéré. 2020-07-10. Plasma mirrors as a path to the Schwinger limit. https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.05325

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