Propulsion of targets with different confinement geometries in water by Nd:YAG laser at 1064nm

Laser propulsion in air or vacuum has been developed as a thruster technology for the attitude control of micro class satellites. Laser propulsion in water can be used as a technology for propelling underwater platform or controlling microfluid device. Laser propulsion effects in water are much better in air due to the force from laser-induced bubble in water. The target geometries will influence the propulsion effects in air. In order to investigate the influence of target geometries on laser propulsion in water, targets with/without conical cavity and hemispherical cavity are designed in this paper. The momentum IT gained by targets and the momentum coupling coefficient Cm are investigated experimentally by high-speed photography method. It shows that the propulsion effects are better if there is a cavity on the laser irradiated surface of the target, and a hemispherical cavity works better than a conical cavity. In addition, IT increases with the laser energy, but the increasing trend slows gradually, and Cm increases with the laser energy first, and then levels off for all four targets. These results are both due to the laser plasma shielding. In conclusion, we need design suitable target geometries and use optimal laser energy to get the best propulsion effect for controlling microfluid device or micro class satellites.