In the known universe, the numbers of positive and negative charges are equal, and matter is, in general, in a state of charge equilibrium.  Due to the long-range nature of electromagnetic interactions, when dense matter consisting of a large number of atoms is far from charge equilibrium, it can generate extremely strong electromagnetic fields. At intensities above 10^20 W/cm^2, approximately 10^9 electrons can be coherently accelerated by the laser field to the speed of light. When exposed to such an ultrastrong laser field, the vast majority, if not all, of the electrons in a nano-sized target will be accelerated. This provides unprecedented  opportunities to create matter far from charge equilibrium. In a series of studies, we have shown that carbon nanotubes, which are as small as 10 nm in diameter, are excellent targets for the production of high-energy electrons and ions with unprecedented efficiency. We have also investigated the creation of microscale high-energy-density matter resulting from laser-matter interaction in aligned nanowire-array targets. Our research  indicates that there is plenty of rooms for low-dimension nano-targets.
 

nano-targets; laser-matter interaction