Physics Colloquium

StarShot – from Metaphotonics to Spacecraft

Over the last several years, significant progress has been made by the scientific community, motivated by the Starshot Initiative, on the understanding of the requirements for design of laser-driven lightsails as future spacecraft. Nanophotonic design principles can enable self-stabilizing optical manipulation, levitation, and propulsion of ultralight microscopic and macroscopic-sized (i.e., micron, mm, cm, or even meter-scale) metasurface lightsails via radiation pressure from a high power density pump laser source. I will discuss new simulations and measurements to test the stringent criteria for lightsail design, dynamical and opto-mechanical stability, and thermal management. We discuss the optomechanical stability of lightsail membranes in the linear and nonlinear regime, as well as first experimental radiation pressure characterization of small silicon nitride (<1 mm) microscale lightsails. We will also give a vision for large-scale lightsail spacecraft as well as considerations for design and integration of on-board instruments.

Join via Zoom:
https://caltech.zoom.us/j/84497014003
Meeting ID: 844 9701 4003

The colloquium is held in Feynman Lecture Hall, 201 E. Bridge.