Possibility of Prolific Pair Production with High-Power Lasers

Prolific electron-positron pair production is possible at laser intensities approaching 10(24) W cm(-2) at a wavelength of 1 mu m. An analysis of electron trajectories and interactions at the nodes (B=0) of two counterpropagating, circularly polarized laser beams shows that a cascade of gamma rays and pairs develops. The geometry is generalized qualitatively to linear polarization and laser beams incident on a solid target.