arXiv subjects

Cui-Wen Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Cui-Wen Zhang.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

High-charge, highly polarized positron beams generated from a laser-driven nanowire-array target

The generation of high-charge, highly polarized positron beams in the interaction of a linearly polarized laser pulse with a nanowire-array target is investigated. Here, laser-driven electrons emit high-energy photons through nonlinear Compton scattering (NCS), which subsequently produce electron--positron pairs through the nonlinear Breit--Wheeler (NBW) process. We model this interaction using two-dimensional spin-resolved quantum electrodynamics particle-in-cell (QED-PIC)} simulations. At positron birth, the sign of $S_z$ is statistically correlated with that of the local $B_z$. The spatiotemporal field structure arising from the laser--nanowire interaction strengthens the correlation between the birth spin sign and the direction of the subsequent transverse Lorentz impulse, thereby limiting cancellation between opposite-spin contributions at a given angle. The results show that the average polarization degree reaches $|\bar S_z|\approx0.46$, and the positron charge satisfying $|\bar S_z|>0.3$ is approximately $308\,\mathrm{nC}$. Parameter scans reveal that the high-polarization positron charge is maximized at intermediate target densities and nanowire periods. Such a source could enable polarization-sensitive studies of strong-field QED and spin-dependent phenomena in high-energy and materials physics.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2026

Polarization-resolved attosecond gamma-ray emission from few-cycle laser interactions with cone targets

Linearly polarized attosecond $\gamma$-ray pulses in the MeV range are generated from a cone target irradiated by a single few-cycle laser pulse. Electron layers are periodically extracted from the cone walls and subsequently accelerated. Their interaction with the counter-propagating reflected attosecond field produces high-energy photons through nonlinear Compton scattering (NCS), forming attosecond $\gamma$-ray pulses. We model this interaction using two-dimensional quantum electrodynamics particle-in-cell (QED-PIC) simulations that resolve electron spin and photon polarization during emission. The results show a shortest equivalent duration of $300\,\mathrm{as}$, with a corresponding linear polarization degree of 0.78. The photon spectrum extends to $6\,\mathrm{MeV}$, and the linear polarization degree in the high-energy range reaches 0.88. The linear polarization degree remains high when photons from both emission directions are collected over wide momentum-angle ranges. Scans over the cone opening angle and the coupled laser-plasma parameters reveal tradeoffs among photon number, mean photon energy, and polarization. Such highly polarized attosecond $\gamma$-ray pulses could be used to investigate ultrafast nuclear dynamics and polarization-dependent processes in strong-field quantum electrodynamics.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2024

Attosecond electron bunch generation by an intense laser propagation in conical channel with a curved wall

By using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, attosecond electron bunches with high density, high energy and small divergence angle can be obtained by p-polarized laser irradiation in conical channel with curved wall. We find that some electrons in the wall are pulled into the channel by the transverse electric field and are directly accelerated. Meanwhile, they move steadily along the conical wall via laser pondermotive force. The results show that the focusing effect of the curved wall conical channel is stronger than that of the traditional flat wall conical channel, and the density of the attosecond electron bunches is increased by nearly 175% as well as the maximum energy is increased by 36%. We also find that the quality of the electron bunches is affected by the geometry of the concial channel wall. Interestingly it is found that the attosecond electron bunches obtained from the specific concial channel with the hyperbolic geometry of the curved wall can keep stable around the maximum electron energy within 10T0 even if they have left the channel.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2024

Vortex information in multiphoton scalar pair production

Vortex information of scalar pair production in circularly polarized field is investigated in the multiphoton regime. We find that vortex orientation is related to the intrinsic orbital angular momentum of created particles associating with the helicity of absorbed photons, while the magnitude of the orbital angular momentum, i.e., the topology charge is determined by the number of absorbed photons. Moreover, the properties of particle creation and vortices formation can be understood by analyzing the pair production process in quasiparticle representation. This study provides new insights into the angular momentum transfer from field to particle in the scalar pair production process. It is expected that there are similar findings about vortex features for different spin alignment in electron-positron pair production in strong fields via the topology charge as a new freedom.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Generation of $γ$-photons and pairs with transverse orbital angular momentum via spatiotemporal optical vortex pulse

We present the generation of well-collimated $γ$-photons and pairs with extrinsic transverse orbital angular momentum (TOAM) through the head-on collision of an intense spatiotemporal optical vortex (STOV) pulse carrying intrinsic TOAM with a high-energy electron beam. It is found that the TOAM of STOV pulse remains almost unchanged, and the TOAM is conserved in the center-of-mass frame (CMF). Moreover, there exhibits duality for particles TOAM in the CMF and laboratory frame (LF) when the initial location of high-energy electron beam is different. Furthermore, the TOAM of $γ$-photons in the CMF increases while that of positrons decreases as the topological charge of STOV pulse increases, whereas in the LF, the TOAM of both $γ$-photons and positrons decreases. And the result under the same pulse intensity is better than that under the same pulse energy. The increase in the initial energy of high-energy electrons leads to an enhancement of the TOAM for both $γ$-photons and positrons in both frames. $γ$-photons and electrons/positrons with TOAM as a new degree of freedom maybe have an extensive applications in optical communication, astrophysics and nanomaterials and so on.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2022

Generation of bright collimated vortex $γ$-ray via laser driven cone-fan target

We use numerical simulations to demonstrate that a source of bright collimated vortex $γ$-ray with large orbital angular momentum can be achieved by irradiating a circularly polarized laser with an intensity about $10^{22}\rm{W/{cm^2}}$ on a cone-fan target. In the studied setup, electron beam of energy of hundreds of MeV and vortex laser pulse are formed. And furthermore a high quality vortex $γ$-ray is yielded with small divergence of $5^{\circ}$ and high peak brilliance $\sim5\times10^{22}$ photons ${\rm\cdot s^{-1} \cdot mm^{-2} \cdot mrad^{-2}}$ $0.1\%\mathrm{BW}$ at $10\mathrm{MeV}$. A considerable fraction of angular momentum of laser is converted to electron beam and vortex $γ$-ray, which are roughly $27.8\%$ and $3\%$, respectively. And the conversion efficiency of energy from laser to electron beam and vortex $γ$-ray are around $41\%$ and $3.8\%$. Moreover, comparative simulations for different right radius of cone reveal that there exists an optimal size that makes the highest angular momentum of $γ$-ray photons to be around $2.8\times10^6\hbar$. The comparative simulations for different laser modes exhibit that it is more appropriate to choose the circularly polarized laser to generate vortex $γ$-ray than the Laguerre-Gaussian one.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2022

Angular distributions of nonlinear Thomson scattering in combining field with a general elliptically polarized laser and a background magnetic field

Nonlinear Thomson scattering of an electron motion in a combining field constituted by an elliptically polarized laser and a background magnetic field is investigated. The dependence of the electron trajectories, the fundamental frequency, the maximum radiation power in spatial distribution and corresponding spatial angle on ellipticity are obtained. In addition, we find that the angular distributions of scattering spectra with respect to the azimuthal angle exhibits the symmetry no matter what the order of harmonics, the laser intensity, the magnetic resonance parameter and the initial axial momentum are. Meanwhile, the polar angle distribution of the spectra approaches more and more the laser propagation direction with the laser intensity, the magnetic resonance parameter and the initial axial momentum. The maximum radiated power increases and the corresponding polar angle decreases. The optimal angle for the maximum radiated power per unit of solid, the corresponding photon number and the photons brightness can be obtained, which implies that the high quality XUV or/and x-ray can be generated by the studied scheme when the suitable parameters are chosen.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2022

Simulation study of a bright attosecond $γ$-ray source generation by irradiating an intense laser on a cone target

The interaction between an ultrastrong laser and a cone-like target is an efficient approach to generate high power radiations like attosecond pulses and terahertz waves. The object is to study the $γ$-ray generation under this configuration with the help of 2D particle-in-cell simulations. It is deciphered that electrons experience three stages including injection, acceleration and scattering to emit high energy photons via nonlinear compton scattering (NCS). These spatial-separated attosecond $γ$-ray pulses own high peak brilliance ($>10^{22}$ photons/($\rm s\cdot\rm mm^2\cdot\rm mrad^2\cdot0.1\%BW$)) and high energy (6MeV) under the case of normalized laser intensity $a_0=30$ ($\mathrm{I=2\times10^{21}W/cm^2}$). Besides, the cone target turns out to be an order of magnitude more efficient in energy transfer compared with a planar one.

physics.plasm-ph↗