Nanonewton thrust measurement of photon pressure propulsion using semiconductor laser

K. Iwami; Taku Akazawa; Tomohiro Ohtsuka; Hiroyuki Nishida; Norihiro Umeda

doi:10.1117/12.893427

31 August 2011 Nanonewton thrust measurement of photon pressure propulsion using semiconductor laser

K. Iwami, Taku Akazawa, Tomohiro Ohtsuka, Hiroyuki Nishida, Norihiro Umeda

Proceedings Volume 8164, Nanophotonics and Macrophotonics for Space Environments V; 816406 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.893427
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2011, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

To evaluate the thrust produced by photon pressure emitted from a 100 W class continuous-wave semiconductor laser, a torsion-balance precise thrust stand is designed and tested. Photon emission propulsion using semiconductor light sources attract interests as a possible candidate for deep-space propellant-less propulsion and attitude control system. However, the thrust produced by photon emission as large as several ten nanonewtons requires precise thrust stand. A resonant method is adopted to enhance the sensitivity of the biflier torsional-spring thrust stand. The torsional spring constant and the resonant of the stand is 1.245 × 10^-3 Nm/rad and 0.118 Hz, respectively. The experimental results showed good agreement with the theoretical estimation. The thrust efficiency for photon propulsion was also defined. A maximum thrust of 499 nN was produced by the laser with 208 W input power (75 W of optical output) corresponding to a thrust efficiency of 36.7%. The minimum detectable thrust of the stand was estimated to be 2.62 nN under oscillation at a frequency close to resonance.

Citation Download Citation

K. Iwami, Taku Akazawa, Tomohiro Ohtsuka, Hiroyuki Nishida, and Norihiro Umeda "Nanonewton thrust measurement of photon pressure propulsion using semiconductor laser", Proc. SPIE 8164, Nanophotonics and Macrophotonics for Space Environments V, 816406 (31 August 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.893427

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