The work “Creation and direct laser acceleration of positrons in a single stage” by EPP members Martinez B, Barbosa B, and Vranic M. is now out in the journal Physical Review Accelerators and Beams. In this paper, they propose a new setup to obtain relativistic positron beams using next-generation laser systems.

Positrons are created and accelerated during the interaction of an intense laser pulse (80 PW, and 12 kJ of energy) with a relativistic electron beam at 90 degrees of incidence, as seen in the Figure. In this work, it is proven that direct laser acceleration is responsible for the energy enhancement of the positrons.