Acceleration of Laser-Driven Light Sails with Size Comparable to the Beam

摘要

This paper derives exact formulas for the force exerted on light sails by lasers and for the resulting acceleration in the presence of spillover, which occurs when the size of the sail is comparable or smaller than that of the gaussian beam. Moreover, it compares these quantities for different sail sizes. This study is of a paramount interest for light/solar sail technology, since it allows one to minimize the size of the sail and the power of the laser for a given desired acceleration.