Relativistic laser–matter interaction

The group studies how matter behaves when illuminated by ultra-intense, ultrashort laser pulses, a regime where the electric field of the light rivals or exceeds the fields binding electrons to atoms and drives electron motion to relativistic velocities. When such a pulse is focused into a gas or plasma, it expels electrons and excites a trailing plasma wave whose longitudinal fields are thousands of times stronger than those of conventional radio-frequency accelerators. The central aim is to understand and control this laser-plasma interaction well enough to accelerate charged particles and generate radiation in devices orders of magnitude more compact than today's facilities.

Mastering these interactions matters both for fundamental physics and for applications. Laser-driven plasma accelerators can produce high-quality electron beams reaching giga-electronvolt energies over centimetre scales, and these beams in turn become sources of femtosecond X-rays and gamma rays. Such sources promise table-top tools for ultrafast imaging, medical and biological applications, and the study of matter under extreme fields, while also informing the wider effort to build the next generation of compact, affordable particle accelerators.