Experimental evidence of muon production from a laser-wakefield accelerator

We report on experimental evidence for the generation of directional muons from a laser-wakefield accelerator driven by a PW-class laser. The muons were generated following the interaction of a GeV-scale high-charge electron beam with a 2cm-thick Pb target and were detected using a Timepix3 detector placed behind a suitable shielding configuration. Data analysis indicates a 95±3% confidence of muon detection over noise, in excellent agreement with numerical modelling. Extrapolation of the experimental setup to higher electron energies and charges suggests the potential to guide approximately 10⁴ muons/s onto cm²-scale areas for applications using a 10 Hz PW laser. These results demonstrate the possibility of muon generation using high-power lasers and establish a foundation for the systematic application of laser-driven high-energy muon beams.