Measuring Extreme Vacuum Pressure with Ultra-Intense Lasers

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to measure extremely low vacuum pressures using ultra-intense lasers by detecting photons from relativistic Thomson scattering, enabling measurements down to 10^{-16} Pa with current technology.

Contribution

It introduces a novel laser-based technique for measuring ultra-high vacuum pressures through photon detection from relativistic Thomson scattering.

Findings

Potential to measure pressures as low as 10^{-16} Pa.

Feasibility of single-day experiments at high-repetition-rate laser facilities.

Design strategies for efficient pressure measurement.

Abstract

We show that extreme vacuum pressures can be measured with current technology by detecting the photons produced by the relativistic Thomson scattering of ultra-intense laser light by the electrons of the medium. We compute the amount of radiation scattered at different frequencies and angles and design strategies for the efficient measurement of pressure. In particular, we show that a single day experiment at a high repetition rate Petawatt laser facility such as VEGA, that will be operating in 2014 in Salamanca, will be sensitive, in principle, to pressures p as low as 10^{-16} Pa, and will be able to provide highly reliable measurements for p>10^{-14} Pa.