Related papers: Dynamically Stable Radiation Pressure Propulsion o…
Photophoretic forces, several orders of magnitude stronger than radiation pressure, enable particle trapping at remarkably low optical intensities and have opened pathways to applications in aerosol science, free-space 3D volumetric…
The radiation force on dust grains may be dynamically important in driving turbulence and outflows in rapidly star-forming galaxies. Recent studies focus on the highly optically-thick limit relevant to the densest ultra-luminous galaxies…
The propagation and energy coupling of intense laser beams in plasmas are critical issues in laser-driven inertial confinement fusion. Applying magnetic fields to such a setup has been evoked to enhance fuel confinement and heating, and…
Controlling the transport, trapping, and filtering of nanoparticles is important for many applications. By virtue of their weak response to gravity and their thermal motion, various physical mechanisms can be exploited for such operations…
Flexible mechanical metamaterials are compliant structures engineered to achieve unique properties via the large deformation of their components. While their static character has been studied extensively, the study of their dynamic…
Laser-driven acceleration holds great promise for significantly improving accelerating gradient. However, scaling the conventional process of structure-based acceleration in vacuum down to optical wavelengths requires a substantially…
The interaction of micro- and nano-structured target surfaces with high-power laser pulses is being widely investigated for its unprecedented absorption efficiency. We have developed vertically aligned metallic micro-pillar arrays for…
Flexible filaments moving in viscous fluids are ubiquitous in the natural microscopic world. For example, the swimming of bacteria and spermatozoa as well as important physiological functions at organ-level, such as the cilia-induced motion…
Solar sails enable missions to observe the solar environment from unique vantage points, such as sustained observations away from the Sun-Earth line; sub-L1 station keeping; high inclination solar orbits; Earth polar-sitting and…
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…
Artificial microswimmers are a new technology with promising microfluidics and biomedical applications, such as directed cargo transport, microscale assembly, and targeted drug delivery. A fundamental barrier to realising this potential is…
In this paper it is presented the concept and design of a new type of spacecraft that could be used to make the first manned interstellar travel. Solar one would integrate three near-term technologies, namely: compact nuclear fusion…
Relativistic transparency enables volumetric laser interaction with overdense plasmas and direct laser acceleration of electrons to relativistic velocities. The dense electron current generates a magnetic filament with field strength of the…
A relativistic spacecraft of the type envisioned by the Breakthrough Starshot initiative will inevitably get charged through collisions with interstellar particles and UV photons. Interstellar magnetic fields would, therefore, deflect the…
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…
One of the current trends of laser applications in material science is using high-intensity lasers to provide fast and efficient surface or volume modifications for achieving controllable material properties, synthesis of novel materials…
I review those properties of the interstellar medium within 15 light-years of the Sun which will be relevant for the planning of future rapid ($v /ge 0.1c$) interstellar space missions to the nearest stars. As the detailed properties of the…
The dynamics of radiation pressure acceleration in the relativistic light sail regime are analysed by means of large scale, three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell simulations. Differently to other mechanisms, the 3D dynamics leads to…
Plasmas are beset with instabilities of all types, hydrodynamic, magneto-hydrodynamic, and electromagnetic. These instabilities are complex, occur over a large range of temporal and spatial scales, are most often unmanageable, and have…
The electric solar wind sail (E-sail) is a novel, efficient propellantless propulsion concept which utilises the natural solar wind for spacecraft propulsion with the help of long centrifugally stretched charged tethers. The E-sail requires…