Related papers: Momentum Transfer by Laser Ablation of Irregularly…
Among the approaches to the proposed mitigation and remediation of the space debris problem is the de-orbiting of objects in low Earth orbit through irradiation by ground-based high-intensity pulsed lasers. Laser ablation of a thin surface…
For exploration of space, in particular in attempts to find new extra-terrestrial resources, human society has encountered the problem of space pollution with human-made debris, which represents high risks for space missions. This prompted…
Contactless transfer of angular momentum from rotating laser beam to a solid target is experimentally demonstrated. The effect is observed under irradiation of a glassy carbon target immersed in water by a pulsed laser beam that is scanned…
A laser ablation ion source (LAS) is a powerful tool by which diverse species of ions can be produced for mass spectrometer calibration, or surface study applications. It is necessary to frequently shift the laser position on the target to…
Understanding and manipulation of the laser processing quality during the ablation of solids have crucial importance from fundamental and industrial perspectives. Here we have studied the effect of external magnetic field on the…
This paper presents the design of a multi-spacecraft system for the deflection of asteroids. Each spacecraft is equipped with a fibre laser and a solar concentrator. The laser induces the sublimation of a portion of the surface of the…
We show how the deposition of laser energy induces propulsion and strong deformation of an absorbing liquid body. Combining high speed with stroboscopic imaging, we observe that a millimeter-sized dyed water drop hit by a millijoule…
This paper presents a novel approach to the robust design of deflection actions for Near Earth Objects (NEO). In particular, the case of deflection by means of Solar-pumped Laser ablation is studied here in detail. The basic idea behind…
A novel deflection effect of an intense laser beam with spin angular momentum is revealed theoretically by an analytical modeling using radiation pressure and momentum balance of laser plasma interaction in the relativistic regime, as a…
Electron acceleration by relativistically intense laser beam propagating along a curved surface allows to split softly the accelerated electron bunch and the laser beam. The presence of a curved surface allows to switch an adiabatic…
Cometary impacts pose a long-term hazard to life on Earth. Impact mitigation techniques have been studied extensively, but they tend to focus on asteroid diversion. Typical asteroid interdiction schemes involve spacecraft physically…
Pulsed laser ablation propulsion has the potential to revolutionize space exploration by eliminating the requirement of a spacecraft to carry its propellant and power source as the high-power laser is situated off-board. More…
When a free-falling liquid droplet is hit by a laser it experiences a strong ablation driven pressure pulse. Here we study the resulting droplet deformation in the regime where the ablation pressure duration is short, i.e. comparable to the…
The impact of a laser pulse on a highly absorbing liquid drop can lead to a violent response: the drop is accelerated, strongly deforms, and eventually fragments. Shock waves, the ejection of matter, and even plasma formation can accompany…
Irradiating materials with ultra-short laser pulses generates unwanted shock waves which distort the interesting physics. Advanced boundary conditions are presented to erase even very strong shock waves. Depending on the wave length, laser…
A laser beam propagating to a remote target through atmospheric turbulence acquires intensity fluctuations. If the target is cooperative and provides a coherent return beam, the phase measured near the beam transmitter and adaptive optics…
The partial reflection of an electromagnetic (EM) wave from a medium leads to absorption of momentum in the direction perpendicular to the surface (the standard radiation pressure) {and, for oblique incidence on a partially reflecting…
We suggest a technique based on the transfer of topological charge from applied laser radiation to directional and coherent optical fields generated in ladder-type excited atomic media to identify the major processes responsible for their…
We show that under appropriate conditions the impact of a very short and intense laser pulse onto a plasma causes the expulsion of surface electrons with high energy in the direction opposite to the one of propagation of the pulse. This is…
Laser fields can be shaped on a subwavelength scale as to have a specific distribution in spin angular momentum, orbital structure, or topology. We study how these various features affect the strongly nonlinear electron dynamics.…