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      Achieving High Polarization of Photons Emitted by Unpolarized Electrons in Ultrastrong Laser Fields

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          Abstract

          Nonlinear Compton scattering driven by ultraintense lasers presents a promising avenue for enhancing the photon energy, brilliance, and setup compactness of \(\gamma\)-ray sources. However, a significant challenge lies in achieving a high polarization degree with commonly generated unpolarized electrons, thus addressing a longstanding puzzle in the field. Here we investigate the polarization dynamics of photons emitted by an unpolarized electron beam interacting with a counter-propagating ultraintense laser pulse numerically, and propose a novel method to generate highly polarized \(\gamma\) rays via nonlinear Compton scattering with the aid of vacuum dichroism effect. Our simulations reveal that high-brilliance \(\gamma\) rays with polarization beyond 90\% are feasible in a single-shot interaction, rivaling the highest achieved by any \(\gamma\)-ray sources to date, based on a developed Monte Carlo method incorporating polarization-resolved tree processes of nonlinear Compton scattering and Breit-Wheeler pair production and one-loop vacuum polarization. This generation method showcases an extraordinary ultra-high polarization degree and a user-friendly all-optical experimental setup, while harnessing the high photon energy and brilliance characteristic of nonlinear Compton scattering sources, thus making it of great potential for experimental applications.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          10 April 2024
          Article
          2404.07038
          37925a39-93ba-44c6-82c9-954728ec61d0

          http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/

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          physics.plasm-ph

          Plasma physics
          Plasma physics

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