Conventional particle accelerators can range from large room-sized devices to facilities multiple kilometers across. One of the ways that scientists have looked to reduce the size and expense of future accelerators is by developing laser -driven plasma acceleration. Such accelerators, however, are growing in size and complexity in order to maintain relevance for one of their applications—high energy physics. However, there are many applications that can use a lower energy and higher repetition rate accelerated beam. For the first time, scientists have observed the production of relativistic electrons driven by low-energy, ultrashort mid-infrared laser pulses. A research team at the University of Maryland, USA, with support from the Technical University of Vienna, Austria, will present their group’s findings at Frontiers in Optics + Laser Science APS/DLS (FIO + LS), held 17-21 September 2017 in Washington, DC.