Group of Lasers and Plasmas

Generation of miniature magnetised shockwaves

By interacting with minimagnetospheres, super-alfvénic plasma streams
can generate collisionless shocks with very distinct features, like solitary
(tsunami-like) magnetosonic waves.  In the figure, we represent the magnetic field
of a train of solitary waves (in blue tones) resulting from the interaction with a
minimagnetosphere, whose typical size is of a few ion Larmor radii. In orange/red
tones, we represent the electron fluid velocity component perpendicular to the
magnetic field, that illustrates the development of electron-scale instabilities
at the magnetopause.
Cascading in laser pulses

The figure represents the development of an
electron-positron pair plasma at the focus of two
counter circularly polarized intense laser pulses.
The electrons, positrons and photons are respectively
colored in red, green and yellow. The laser pulses
are displayed in a rainbow color scale according
to the wave intensity. The arrows represent the field
lines of the electric field.
High-resolution x-ray 3D imaging of bone micro-structure

Osteoporosis impact on public health is sharply increasing justifying a significant effort to diagnose,
reat and understand this disease. Bones have been imaged with x-rays for almost a century and the
basic technology for clinical image is well established, but with the recent development of large scale
synchrotron light sources and high-end microfiches x-ray generators, imaging of the intricate bone inner
structure with a few micron resolution become possible. Laser driven betatron x-ray microscope was
built and used to demonstrate the feasibility of high-resolution bone imaging in the Astra-Gemini laser
facility (UK). A sample of femur trabecular bone was imaged from multiple angles and a 3D model of the
bone was built using tomographic techniques to a resolution below 50 micron. This demonstration renew
the interest in the development of compact laser-plasma electron accelerators and its applications. It also
opens prospects for its use in clinic diagnostics in the medium term.

Join GoLP and be part of a vibrant team that promotes pioneering research in Plasma Physics, Advanced Photonics and Advanced Computing, based on a culture of entrepreneurship, creativity and international collaboration. At GoLP, you have the opportunity to work with renowned scientists, have access to state-of-the-art facilities, and world-class mentoring, which enables our researchers to perform at the highest international level.

We are committed to providing a stimulating research environment similar to that of the best, underpinning our scientific discoveries through a unique interplay between theory, simulation and experiments.

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Latest News

Paper in Science Advances unveils unique radiation properties of magnetized relativistic plasmas

In a recent paper in Science Advances, Pablo B, Thales S, and Luis OS show that radiatively cooled relativistic plasmas can spontaneously emit coherent, polarized radiation via the maser instability. This is a universal feature of relativistically hot plasmas embedded in ultra strong magnetic fields, such as plasmas in the magnetospheres of neutron stars, and should also be observable in laboratory conditions. The paper… Read more

Mariana M awarded the John Dawson Thesis Prize

Mariana Moreira, a former GoLP member and currently a postdoctoral researcher at CERN working on the AWAKE experiment, has been awarded the prestigious John Dawson Thesis Prize at the Laser-Plasma Accelerators Workshop (LPAW) 2025. The award was presented during the conference, which was held from April 14 to 18 at Hotel Continental in Ischia, Italy. Mariana carried out her PhD between Instituto Superior Técnico, under… Read more

Latest Publications

Relaxation to universal non-Maxwellian equilibria in a collisionless plasma, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122 (2025) p. (17) e24178131
Robert J. Ewart, Michael L. Nastac, Pablo J. Bilbao, Thales Silva, Luís O. Silva, and Alexander A. Schekochihin
Experimental Observation of the Motion of Ions in a Resonantly Driven Plasma Wakefield Accelerator, Physical Review Letters 134 (2025) p. 155001
M Turner, E Walter, C Amoedo, N Torrado, N Lopes, A Sublet, M Bergamaschi et al.
Can plasma physics establish a significant bound on long-range dark matter interactions?, Physical Review D 111 (2025) p. L071701
K. Schoeffler, N. Shukla, and L. O. Silva
Radiative cooling induced coherent maser emission in relativistic plasmas, Science Advances 11 (2025) p. eadt8912
Pablo J. Bilbao, Thales Silva, and Luís O. Silva

Generation of miniature magnetised shockwaves

Cascading in laser pulses

High-resolution x-ray 3D imaging of bone micro-structure

Latest News

Paper in Science Advances unveils unique radiation properties of magnetized relativistic plasmas

Mariana M awarded the John Dawson Thesis Prize

Latest Publications