From laser particle acceleration to the synthesis of extremely neutron rich isotopes via the novel fission-fusion mechanism

High-power, short pulse lasers have emerged in the last decade as attractive tools for accelerating charged particles (electrons, ions) to high energies over mm-scale acceleration lengths, thus promising to rival conventional acceleration techniques in the years ahead. In the first part of the article, the principles of laser-plasma interaction as well as the techniques and the current status of the acceleration of electron and ion beams will be briefly introduced. In particular with the upcoming next generation of multi-PW class laser systems, such as the one under construction for the ELI-Nuclear Physics project in Bucharest (ELI-NP), very efficient acceleration mechanisms for brilliant ion beams like radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) come into reach. Here, ultra-dense ion beams reaching solid-state density can be accelerated from thin target foils, exceeding the density of conventionally accelerated ion beams by about 14 orders of magnitude. This unique property of laser-accelerated ion beams can b...