Related papers: Self-stabilizing laser sails based on optical meta…
Lightsail spacecraft, propelled to relativistic velocities via photon pressure using high power density laser radiation, offer a potentially new route to space exploration within and beyond the solar system, extending to interstellar…
We consider the motion of a light sail that is accelerated by a powerful laser beam. We derive the equations of motion for two proof-of-concept sail designs with damped internal degrees of freedom. Using linear stability analysis we show…
We develop an analytical framework for self-stabilizing optical manipulation of freestanding metasurfaces in three dimensions. Our framework reveals that the challenging problem of stabilization against translational and rotational…
The structural stability of a lightsail under the laser flux necessary for interstellar flight is studied analytically and numerically. A sinusoidal perturbation is introduced into a two-dimensional thin-film sail to determine if the sail…
The novel combination of a strongly-resonant optical metasurface with the MoS$_2$/WSe$_2$ hetero-bilayer is proposed for efficient free-space lasing enabled by the enhanced coupling between the optical and matter (exciton) states. The…
Lightsails are promising spacecraft that can traverse interstellar distances within decades via radiation-pressure propulsion from high-power lasers. The envisioned missions crucially rely on the sail being confined within the propelling…
Optical metasurfaces, comprised of subwavelength nanostructures, hold a great promise to high-power laser optics but also a limited pertinence due to their currently limited aperture size, throughput and durability. Here, an alternative…
The Breakthrough Starshot Initiative is suggested to develop the concept of propelling a nano-scale spacecraft by the radiation pressure of an intense laser beam. If such a nanocraft could be accelerated to 20 percent of light speed, it…
Precise manipulation of small objects using light holds transformative potential across diverse fields. While research in optical trapping and manipulation predominantly relies on the attraction of solid matter to light intensity maxima,…
Nanostructured dielectric metasurfaces offer unprecedented opportunities to manipulate light by imprinting an arbitrary phase-gradient on an impinging wavefront. This has resulted in the realization of a range of flat analogs to classical…
We propose to use metasurfaces as a mean of controlling radiation pressure for increasing the range of motions of spacecraft solar sails. Specifically, we present a theoretical study of different electromagnetic field configurations, and…
Optical metasurfaces of subwavelength pillars have provided new capabilities for the versatile definition of the amplitude, phase, and polarization of light. In this work, we demonstrate that an efficient dielectric metasurface lens can be…
Lightsails using Earth-based lasers for propulsion require passive stabilization to stay within the beam. This can be achieved through the sail's scattering properties, creating optical restoring forces and torques. Undamped restoring…
In the recent years, metasurfaces, being flat and lightweight, have been designed to replace bulky optical components with various functions. We demonstrate a monolithic Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) integrated with a…
Focused laser beams allow controlling mechanical motion of objects and can serve as a tool for assembling complex micro and nano structures in space. While in a vast majority of cases small particles experience attractive gradient forces…
The stability of a light sail riding on a laser beam is analyzed both analytically and numerically. Conical sails on Gaussian beams, which have been studied in the past, are shown to be unstable without active control or additional…
Achieving high repeatability and efficiency in laser-induced strong shock wave excitation remains a significant technical challenge, as evidenced by the extensive efforts undertaken at large-scale national laboratories to optimize the…
Mult-layered meta-optics have enabled complex wavefront shaping beyond their single layer counterpart owing to the additional design variables afforded by each plane. For instance, complex amplitude modulation, generalized polarization…
Dielectric metasurfaces are two-dimensional structures composed of nano-scatterers that manipulate phase and polarization of optical waves with subwavelength spatial resolution, enabling ultra-thin components for free-space optics. While…
Metasurface lasers offer unprecedented control over light emission, yet their spatial and modal characteristics are typically fixed post-fabrication. Here, we introduce a reconfigurable plasmonic metasurface laser platform in which the…