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.
Nanonewton thrust measurement of photon pressure propulsion using semiconductor laser
Nanophotonics and Macrophotonics for Space Environments V ; 2011 ; San Diego,California,United States
Proc. SPIE ; 8164
01.09.2011
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Nanonewton thrust measurement of photon pressure propulsion using semiconductor laser [8164-05]
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