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My research areas are laser-plasma physics, strong-field physics, and high-energy-density physics. Research on laser-plasma interactions has been conducted for over 40 years alongside developments in laser technology, achievable beam energy, and intensity. A wide set of fundamental phenomena is now well understood, including laser absorption, plasma heating, particle acceleration, electromagnetic wave scattering, plasma wave generation, nonlinear plasma optics, and more. As a rapidly developing field, laser-plasma interactions offer opportunities for new ideas. Over time, this growing body of research has yielded many significant applications, ranging from compact GeV electron accelerators to laser-driven fusion schemes.

The key concept underlying most applications of laser-plasma interactions is the ponderomotive force, which imparts net linear momentum to electrons and pushes the plasma away from regions of high laser intensity. Another important feature of high-power lasers is their high energy density, which facilitates high-energy-density physics and initial fusion research. However, a laser can carry net angular momentum, including spin and orbital angular momentum, and can therefore potentially create plasma with orbital angular momentum (OAM), especially with a high-power laser. These OAM effects may be related to the plasma environment's high rotational speed or its strong, self-generated magnetic field. Ultimately, this could lead to greater control over the acceleration process or high-energy-density physics.

My research focuses on OAM effects in laser-plasma interactions. More specifically, I am interested in magnetic field generation, electron acceleration by laser or plasma wakefield, second-radiation sources driven by lasers, and new methods of plasma diagnostics. Cutting-edge technology, such as high-power vortex lasers with twisted wavefronts, multiple high-power laser beams, and high-intensity, high-energy lasers, can influence laser-plasma interactions and produce impressive results in various applications. Fundamentally, we aim to harness the energy and intensity of a high-power laser beam with a mid-infrared wavelength to accelerate particle beams and transfer that energy and intensity to particle beams or EM radiation with different wavelengths. My research has the potential to be applied to initial fusion energy, industry, and medicine. We are passionate about pursuing original ideas and conducting proof-of-principle experiments. We are also interested in developing applications.

We can provide short-term research topics for underground or master students.

These topics primarily focus on theoretical analysis, simulation, and code development:

(1) Ultrashort, intense laser pulse interaction with plasma,

(2) Helical plasma waves carrying orbital angular momentum,

(3) Radiation with orbital angular momentum from relativistic electron beams,

(4) PIC code development (SymPIC),

(5) Spatio-temporal characterization of ultrashort laser beams in theory and simulation,

(6) Photon kinetic theory. etc.

We can also find cross-disciplinary topics, such as Bayesian in Plasma.