Related papers: Dynamically Stable Radiation Pressure Propulsion o…

The Magnetic Sail is a space propulsion system that utilizes the interaction between solar wind particles and an artificial dipole magnetic field generated by a spacecraft's coil to produce thrust without the need for additional plasma or…

The dynamics of the acceleration of ultrathin foil targets by the radiation pressure of superintense, circularly polarized laser pulses is investigated by analytical modeling and particle-in-cell simulations. By addressing self-induced…

A technique by which a spacecraft can interact with flows of ionized gas in space (the solar wind or interstellar medium) to be accelerated to velocities greater than the wind velocity is explored. Inspired by the dynamic soaring maneuvers…

Since the historical experiments of Crookes, the direct manipulation of matter by light has been both a challenge and a source of scientific debate. Here we show that laser illumination allows to displace a vial of nanoparticle solution…

Advanced diffractive films may afford advantages over passive reflective surfaces for a variety space missions that use solar or laser in-space propulsion. Three cases are compared: Sun-facing diffractive sails, Littrow diffraction…

Interest in the exploration of, and the establishment of a human settlement, on Mars is rapidly growing. To achieve this, rapid transit will be required to bring crucial cargo. Current missions to Mars take 150 days, which would be too long…

Upon entering a star system, light sails are subject to both gravitational forces and radiation pressure, and can use both in concert to modify their trajectory. Moreover, stars possess significant magnetic fields, and if the sail is in any…

The stability of high-speed liquid jets is crucial for applications ranging from precision printing to needle-free drug delivery, yet it is fundamentally limited by capillary-driven breakup. A common strategy to stabilize jets is to use…

It is widely assumed that human exploration beyond Earth's orbit will require vehicles capable of providing long-duration habitats that simulate an Earthlike environment: consistent artificial gravity, breathable atmosphere, and sufficient…

Acceleration of ultrathin plasma foils by laser radiation pressure promises compact alternatives to the conventional ion accelerators. It was shown, that a major showstopper for such schemes is a strong transverse instability, which…

The Starshot Breakthrough Initiative aims to send one-gram microchip probes to Alpha Centauri within 20 years, using gram-scale lightsails propelled by laser-based radiation pressure, reaching velocities nearing a fifth of light speed. This…

Particle acceleration in microstructures driven by ultrafast solid state lasers is a rapidly evolving area of advanced accelerator research, leading to a variety of concepts based on planar-symmetric dielectric gratings, hollow core fibers,…

A new regime is described for Radiation Pressure Acceleration of a thin foil by an intense laser beam of above 10^20 W/cm^2. Highly monoenergetic proton beams extending to GeV energies can be produced with very high efficiency using…

Photomechanical liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are responsive polymers that can convert light directly into mechanical deformation. This unique feature makes these materials an attractive candidate for soft actuators capable of remote and…

New means of interstellar travel are now being considered by various research teams, assuming lightweight spaceships to be accelerated via either laser or solar radiation to a significant fraction of the speed of light (c). We recently…

A lightsail can be accelerated to ultra-high speed by the radiation pressure of a laser having an intensity of the order of GW/m$^2$, which though presents a critical challenge in the thermal management of lightsails. In this letter, we…

Steering of magnetic nano-/microhelices by a rotating magnetic field is considered as a promising technique for controlled navigation of tiny objects through viscous fluidic environments. It has been recently demonstrated that simple…

In this paper, we propose novel methods to increase total luminosity and decrease error propagation during subluminal or luminal interstellar transits by navigation with star maps. We demonstrate with theoretical and simulation models in…

We propose a system to optimize parametric designs subject to radiation pressure, \ie the effect of light on the motion of objects. This is most relevant in the design of spacecraft, where radiation pressure presents the dominant…

Use of resonant light forces opens up a unique approach to high-volume sorting of microspherical resonators with much higher uniformity of resonances compared to that in coupled-cavity structures obtained by the best semiconductor…