CO2 Laser Ablation Propulsion Tractor Beams

Manipulation of objects at a distance has already been achieved with no small measure of success in the realm of microscopic objects on the scale size of nanometers to micrometers in applications including laser trapping and laser tweezers. However, there has been relatively little effort to apply such remote control to macroscopic systems. A space tractor beam could be applied to a wide range of applications, including removal of orbital debris, facilitation of spacecraft docking, adjustment of satellite attitude or orbital position, etc. In this paper, an ablative laser propulsion tractor beam is demonstrated based on radiation from a CO2 laser. Cooperative, layered polymer targets were used for remote impulse generation using a CO2 laser. The use of a structured ablatant enabling switching between thrust directional parity (i.e., forward or reverse) and imparting torque to a remote target. Fluence-dependent results are presented in the context of polymer ablation modeling work and with consideration of confined ablation effects.