# Efficient ion acceleration and dense electron-positron plasma creation in ultra-high intensity laser-solid interactions

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how ultra-high intensity lasers interact with solid targets, showing that quantum effects can produce dense pair-plasmas that impact ion acceleration efficiency, providing guidance for future experiments.

## Contribution

It identifies regimes where either efficient ion acceleration or dense pair-plasma creation occurs in ultra-high intensity laser-solid interactions.

## Key findings

- Quantum-electrodynamic effects lead to dense pair-plasma formation.
- Pair-plasma production reduces ion acceleration efficiency by up to 50%.
- The study maps interaction regimes for future experimental guidance.

## Abstract

The radiation pressure of next generation ultra-high intensity ($>10^{23}$ W/cm$^{2}$) lasers could efficiently accelerate ions to GeV energies. However, nonlinear quantum-electrodynamic effects play an important role in the interaction of these laser pulses with matter. Here we show that these effects may lead to the production of an extremely dense ($\sim10^{24}$ cm$^{-3}$) pair-plasma which absorbs the laser pulse consequently reducing the accelerated ion energy and energy conversion efficiency by up to 30-50\% \& 50-65\%, respectively. Thus we identify the regimes of laser-matter interaction where either ions are efficiently accelerated or dense pair-plasmas are produced as a guide for future experiments.