Fig. 1. High field processes schematic cartoon: radiation-reaction (RR) slowing of the electrons, nonlinear (multiphoton) inverse Compton generation of Gamma rays, multiphoton Breit–Wheeler electron–positron pair production. (Courtesy PMcK.)

Fig. 2. Quantum electrodynamics with colliding PW laser pulses. First focused PW laser pulse accelerates electrons to relativistic energies from gas targets (left panel) and solid targets (right panel). Second tightly focused PW laser pulse provides the ultra-intense electromagnetic field. The relativistic electrons travel through this ultra-intense field generating QED effects. (Courtesy X.-L. Zhu and T.-P. Yu.)

Fig. 3. Unique CPA titanium:sapphire laser system for colliding 10 PW laser pulses. ELI-NP laser system has two laser amplifier arms which provide 10 PW laser pulses each: (a) the two 10 PW laser pulses are seeded from the same laser oscillator pulse; (b) the two focused 10 PW laser pulses collide in any of the three interaction chambers: E1, E6 and E7 (E7 bunker is south of E6 and E1 and is not shown in figure). (Courtesy ELI-NP, Romania and Thales Optronique, France.)

Fig. 4. Unique facility for QED with colliding 10 PW focused laser pulses at ELI-NP^[3–5]. The focused laser pulses will collide in any of the three interaction chambers: E1, E6 and E7. E6 interaction chamber is dedicated to QED experiments with  m long focal length mirror for wake-field electron acceleration from gas targets and F/4 mirror providing tight focus with ultra-intense EM fields. E1 interaction chamber is dedicated to nuclear physics experiments with solid targets: two F/3 mirrors providing tight focus with ultra-intense EM fields. This configuration will also be used for colliding laser pulses QED experiments with solid targets. E7 interaction chamber is dedicated to experiments with two colliding 10 PW focused laser pulses combined with Gamma pulses as probe. The Gamma pulses will be generated from an inverse Compton scattering interaction of an additional laser focused on relativistic electron bunches generated in an additional linear accelerator. (Courtesy ELI-NP, Romania.)

Fig. 5. The laser pulses will collide in the E1 interaction chamber of ELI-NP, which is dedicated to nuclear physics experiments with solid targets^[3–5]. The two laser pulses will be brought to a tight focus with two F/3 mirrors. E1 chamber will also be used for QED colliding pulse experiments with solid foil targets. (Courtesy ELI-NP, Romania.)

Fig. 6. Experimental setup for measuring RR with colliding laser pulses by the Queen’s University Belfast–Imperial College London-led collaboration^[6]. Driving laser: , focused with F/40 mirror to , . Scattering laser: , focused with F/2 mirror to , . Experiment used the 2-Beam Astra Gemini PW Laser Facility^[10] at STFC, Central Laser Facility, UK. (Courtesy the Queen’s University Belfast–Imperial College London-led collaboration^{[8, 9]}. Reproduced from Ref. [8].)

Fig. 7. Bright Gamma-photon emission and copious electron–positron pair production from double-cone target filled with near-critical-density plasmas. (Courtesy X-L. Zhu and T-P. Yu.)