Professor Gianluca Sarri from Queen’s University Belfast
Centre for Light-Matter Interaction CLMI
Generation and application of particle and radiation sources driven by ultra-high power lasers
High-power laser-plasma interactions offer the opportunity to generate particle and radiation sources with unique characteristics, including femtosecond-scale duration, micron-scale source size, and a high degree of tuneability. Crucially, a wide range of particle and radiation sources can be driven by the same high-power laser (e.g., x-rays, gamma-rays, electrons, positrons and, more recently, even muons), offering a level of flexibility that is hardly attainable by more conventional particle accelerators.
These sources provide step-change capability not only for experimental studies of fundamental science, but also for a broad spectrum of applications in industry, healthcare, and security.
In the seminar, we will provide an overview of recent work in the laser-driven generation and characterisation of particle and radiation sources, outlining future directions in this research. Examples of their applications in fundamental science (e.g., for the study of strong-field quantum electrodynamics), radiobiology, and industry will also be presented.