Thrust enhancement and propellant conservation for laser propulsion using ultra-short double pulses

摘要

Investigations on the thrust generated during ablation of copper with single, double, or triple ultra-short laser pulses are presented in this paper with the goal to find the optimum parameters for laser propulsion thrusters. On the basis of high-precision weighing experiments, it is shown that the material initially ablated by the first pulse and redeposited by the second pulse of a double pulse leads to a significant increase of thrust. Hence, double pulses are a suitable method to propel vessels in space with enhanced thrust values while at the same time saving propellant material.