Abstract

We will review the development of ultra intense lasers, capable of producing 10¹⁸ W/cm² now and 10²⁰ W/cm² in the near future. We will describe the potential applications, including the observation of relativistic effects, i.e. harmonic generation, self-focusing etc., the acceleration of electrons, the generation of collimated X-ray and X-ray beams by nonlinear compton scattering, observation of nonlinear quantum electrodynamic dynamic effects and ignition of thermonuclear fusion.

© 1992 The Author(s)