4 papers
Experimental demonstration of corrugated nanolaminate films as reflective light sails
Matthew F. Campbell, Pawan Kumar, Jason Lynch +11
Achieving laser-driven, reflective, relativistic light sails would represent a tremendous breakthrough for humankind, allowing us to advance our understanding of the solar system a…
Optically Actuated Transitions in Multimodal, Bistable Micromechanical Oscillators
Lior Michaeli, Ramon Gao, Michael D. Kelzenberg +3
We experimentally demonstrate a new class of optomechanical nonlinearities in weakly damped micromechanical resonators, arising from the interplay between the Duffing nonlinearity,…
Direct Radiation Pressure Measurements for Lightsail Membranes
Lior Michaeli, Ramon Gao, Michael D. Kelzenberg +4
Ultrathin lightsails propelled by laser radiation pressure to relativistic speeds are currently the most promising route for flyby-based exoplanet exploration. However, there has b…
Dynamically Stable Radiation Pressure Propulsion of Flexible Lightsails for Interstellar Exploration
Ramon Gao, Michael D. Kelzenberg, Harry A. Atwater
Lightsail spacecraft, propelled to relativistic velocities via photon pressure using high power density laser radiation, offer a potentially new route to space exploration within a…