Possibility of Prolific Pair Production with High-Power Lasers

Prolific electron-positron pair production is possible at laser intensities approaching 10²⁴Wcm^-2 at a wavelength of 1μm. An analysis of electron trajectories and interactions at the nodes (B=0) of two counterpropagating, circularly polarized laser beams shows that a cascade of γ rays and pairs develops. The geometry is generalized qualitatively to linear polarization and laser beams incident on a solid target.