Particle Acceleration and Polarization in the Strong-Field QED Regime

Laser-driven particle accelerators have attracted significant attention because of their ability to sustain orders of magnitude larger acceleration gradients compared to conventional radio-frequency-based systems. Here we will report our progress on particle acceleration and polarization in the strong-field QED regime. We will show that in the forthcoming 10PW-class laser facilities, polarized electrons can be generated via intense laser-irradiated tailored targets induced by radiative spin polarization and angular separation under the standing wave formed by the incident and reflected laser pulses [1]. On the other hand, when the 10PW laser collides with a counterpropagating electron beam, anomalous lepton acceleration could occur with a large focal spot via vacuum laser acceleration [2]. We discuss the potential applications in astrophysics and also our recent theoretical work on the generation of polarized electrons [3] and coherent radiation [4].