Kavli Affiliate: Harry A. Atwater
| First 5 Authors: Ramon Gao, Michael D. Kelzenberg, Harry A. Atwater, ,
| Summary:
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 distances. Such missions will require meter-scale lightsails of
submicron thickness, posing substantial challenges for materials science and
engineering. We analyze the structural and photonic design of flexible
lightsails, developing a mesh-based multiphysics simulator based on linear
elastic theory, treating the lightsail as a flexible membrane rather than a
rigid body. We find that flexible lightsail membranes can be spin stabilized to
prevent shape collapse during acceleration, and that certain lightsail shapes
and designs offer beam-riding stability despite the deformations caused by
photon pressure and thermal expansion. Excitingly, nanophotonic lightsails
based on planar silicon nitride membranes patterned with suitably designed
optical metagratings exhibit both mechanically and dynamically stable
propulsion along the pump laser axis. These advances suggest that laser-driven
acceleration of membrane-like lightsails to the relativistic speeds needed to
access interstellar distances is conceptually feasible, and that fabrication of
such lightsails may be within the reach of modern microfabrication technology.
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