Professor Paul McKenna

Head Of Department

Physics

Personal statement

Paul McKenna's research interests focus on high power laser-plasma interactions. His present research topics include: laser-driven ion acceleration; fast electron generation and transport in dense plasma, and application to the development of advanced schemes for inertial fusion energy; high field physics at the focus of ultra-intense laser pulses; plasma optics; and, laser-driven nuclear physics.

He is an EPSRC Leadership fellow since 2012 and a Professor of Laser-Plasma Physics at the University of Strathclyde since 2011. He received his PhD at Queens University Belfast in 2000, before becoming a postdoctoral fellow at the university of Glasgow from 2000-2002. From 2002-2005, he held a Royal Society of Edinburgh Personal Research Fellowship at the University of Strathclyde, and was appointed to a Lectureship at the university in 2006, and a Readership in 2008.

Publications

Study of backward terahertz radiation from intense picosecond laser-solid interactions using a multichannel calorimeter system: Liu H, Liao G-Q, Zhang Y-H, Zhu B-J, Zhang Z, Li Y-T, Scott G G, Rusby D, Armstrong C, Zemaityte E, Bradford P, Woolsey N, Huggard P, McKenna P, Neely D; High Power Laser Science and Engineering Vol 7 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1017/hpl.2018.60
An optically multiplexed single-shot time resolving probe of laser-plasma dynamics: Davidson Zoe, Gonzalez Izquierdo Bruno, Higginson Adam, Lancaster Kate, Williamson Samuel, King Martin, Farley Damon , Neely David, McKenna Paul, Gray Ross; Optics Express (2019)
Sub-femtosecond electron sheets from a Laguerre-Gaussian laser interaction with micro-droplets: Hu Li-Xiang, Yu Tong-Pu, McKenna Paul, Shao Fu-Qiu; 2018 International Conference Laser Optics (ICLO) 18th International Conference on Laser Optics

, pp. 251-251 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1109/LO.2018.8435436
Novel scintillator-based x-ray spectrometer for use on high repetition laser plasma interaction experiments: Rusby D R, Armstrong C D, Brenner C M, Clarke R J, McKenna P, Neely D; Review of Scientific Instruments Vol 89 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5019213
Experimental signatures of the quantum nature of radiation reaction in the field of an ultraintense laser: Poder K, Tamburini M, Sarri G, Di Piazza A, Kuschel S, Baird C~D, Behm K, Bohlen S, Cole J M, Corvan D J, Duff M, Gerstmayr E, Keitel C H, Krushelnick K, Mangles S P D, McKenna P, Murphy C D, Najmudin Z, Ridgers C P, Samarin G M, Symes D, Thomas A G R, Warwick J, Zepf M; Physical Review X Vol 8 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.8.031004
Cherenkov radiation-based optical fibre diagnostics of fast electrons generated in intense laser-plasma interactions: Liu H, Liao G-Q, Zhang Y-H, Zhu B-J, Zhang Z, Li Y-T, Scott G G, Rusby D, Armstrong C, Zemaityte E, Carroll DC, Astbury S, Bradford P, Woolsey N, McKenna P, Neely D; Review of Scientific Instruments (2018)

more publications

Professional activities

SUPA Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (External organisation): Advisor; 1/8/2018
PhD thesis examination at Queens University Belfast: Examiner; 6/7/2018
Invited Talk / Lecture at the Culham Plasma Physics Summer School 2018: Speaker; 24/7/2018
Invited Talk at the International Conference on Laser-Optics 2018: Speaker; 5/6/2018
International Conference on Laser-Optics 2018: Participant; 4/6/2018
Invited Talk / Tutorial at the 2nd International Conference on Nuclear Photonics: Speaker; 26/6/2018

more professional activities

Projects

Industrial CASE Account - University of Strathclyde 2018 | Horne, Alana: McKenna, Paul (Principal Investigator) Gray, Ross (Co-investigator) Horne, Alana (Research Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2018 - 01-Jan-2022
Advanced laser-plasma optics technology: McKenna, Paul (Principal Investigator); 01-Jan-2018 - 31-Jan-2022
Harwell Imaging Partnership project | Frazer, Timothy: McKenna, Paul (Principal Investigator) Sheng, Zheng-Ming (Co-investigator) Frazer, Timothy (Research Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2017 - 01-Jan-2021
Accelerating the Middle East -- EPSRC GCRF Institutional Sponsorship: Hidding, Bernhard (Principal Investigator) McKenna, Paul (Principal Investigator) Sheng, Zheng-Ming (Principal Investigator) Jaroszynski, Dino (Principal Investigator); Compact plasma accelerators for applications e.g. in life and space sciences with sustainable socio-economic benefit for Turkey and the Middle East are being developed.; 01-Jan-2017 - 31-Jan-2018
Nonlinear Optics and Dynamics in Relativistically Transparent Plasmas: McKenna, Paul (Principal Investigator) Gray, Ross (Co-investigator) King, Martin (Research Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2017 - 31-Jan-2021
EPSRC Global Challenges Research Fund Institutional Sponsorship Award 2017 (GCRF) / R171051-106: Hidding, Bernhard (Principal Investigator) Jaroszynski, Dino (Co-investigator) McKenna, Paul (Co-investigator) Sheng, Zheng-Ming (Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2017 - 31-Jan-2018

more projects

Address

Physics
John Anderson Building

Location Map

View University of Strathclyde in a larger map