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Artist photography of light sailing in space above Earth. | Credit: NASA
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have taken a big step towards developing lights that can one day carry small spacecraft to distant stars systems.
The new results show a way to measure the force of laser light on what is known as “Ultrathin”. This is research that can help enhance the vision of the connected Starshot initiative for the laser space travel.
It was launched in 2016 late Stephen Hawking The technical investor, Yuri Milner, aims to send mini investigations to Alpha SantoriThe nearest star system on the ground. The plan depends on high -energy laser rays on land Paying sensitive investigations driven by the sail in the universe like the wind for sailing boats here on this planet, allowing the craft to achieve standard speeds without the need for a chemical motivation.
Lightails are more general than Solar sailWhere they use radiation pressure from the light source to generate the payment. Radiation pressure is the transfer of momentum from radiation that strikes a surface like wind to the sails of the fabric here on the floor. Photons do not have a mass, but they still transport some of their momentum when they strike an object, and they pay it a little. One photon does not make a big difference, but trillion and trillions of photons reaches their surface, especially in a vacuum space.
Consequently, the radiation in the form of sunlight is sufficient to push space vehicles between the kwak Mars Or other planets.
But a high -energy version of this phenomenon can use a ground or space laser beam to push lights on a spacecraft in a more directive. With the beam provides constant pressure on the sail, the cumulative effect of this radiation pressure adds to much faster and more reliable speeds than you can get from complex missiles using chemical payment.
“The lights will travel faster than any previous spacecraft, with the possibility of opening distances between the stars ultimately to direct the exploration of spacecraft,” said Harry Atwatter from Kaltis, Oteis Booth head in the Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Caltech statement.
Measuring the strength of light on the sail
The ATWARTER team has developed a test platform to measure how the laser exercise on the “trampoline” microscopic from the silicon nitride, and only 50 nm. The miniature sail, which is a square sheet of 40 micron on each side, is connected to the corners with silicone nitride springs and shakes when it collides with the laser. By discovering these small movements, researchers can calculate the strength and power of the laser beam.
“There are many challenges involved in the development of a membrane that can be used in the end as lights. It needs heat tolerance, keeping its shapes under pressure, and riding the fixed along the axis of the laser beam.” “But before we can start building such a sail, we need to understand how the materials respond to the pressure of the radiation from the laser. We wanted to know if we can determine the strength that is practiced on a membrane only by measuring its movements.”
The main authors of the study, the subsequent post -PhD researcher, Lior Michaeli and the graduate student, Ramon Gao, built a specialized setting called the Joint Intervention Scale. This allows the exact measurement of the membrane movement by canceling the background noise such as small vibrations in the laboratory of equipment or even people who speak.
“We have not only avoided unwanted heating effects, but we also used what we learned about the device’s behavior to create a new way to measure the strength of light,” said Michaeli. Gao added that the platform can be measured by movement and courses by side, which paves the way for future lights designs that can be authentic if it is away from the laser beam.
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In the end, the team hopes to integrate advanced nanoparticles and advanced materials to stabilize the limelight during their journey. “This is an important starting stone towards monitoring the visual forces and the determination of determination designed to allow the lights to light the freedom of the laser beam.”
There are many light sail projects in business, and NASA published the solar sail last yearNevertheless I have faced some mechanical problemsHighlighting the importance of Caltech team in improving the design of these sails.
The results were published on January 30 in the magazine Light natureand
