Source: http://aoot.osa.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-27-7-9763
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 10:24:12+00:00

Document:
The interaction of plasma (or shock waves) with the uniform sphere shape of polystyrene particles was investigated in this study to observe the effects of confined geometry and energy fluence on propulsion efficiency. The measurements indicate that propulsion efficiency first increases with energy fluence until reaching a maximum at 0.46 J/cm2, then decreases as energy fluency continues to increase. Compared to polystyrene particle propulsion without confined geometry, the propulsion efficiency of polystyrene particles improved due to multiple laser-induced shock wave reflections among the confined geometry internal face; the plasma propelling force also increased perpendicular to the target surface under confined geometry conditions. The results also show that the energy deposited on the plasma affects the energy distribution between the plasma and polystyrene particle. Moreover, a series of experiments was performed to roughly estimate the shock wave expansion shape through the motion direction of the polystyrene particle swarm, where the shock wave was observed to expand spherically.
A. Kantrowitz, “Propulsion to orbit by ground-based lasers,” Astronautics & Aeronautics (A/A) 10, 74– 76 (1972).
C. A. Rinaldi, N. G. Boggio, D. Rodriguez, A. Lamagna, A. Boselli, F. Manzano, J. Codnia, and M. L. Azcárate, “Dependence of Cm on the composition of solid binary propellants in ablative laser propulsion,” Appl. Surf. Sci. 257(6), 2019–2023 (2011).
areT. Yabe, C. Phipps, M. Yamaguchi, R. Nakagawa, K. Aoki, H. Mine, Y. Ogata, C. Baasandash, M. Nakagawa, E. Fujiwara, K. Yoshida, A. Nishiguchi, and I. Kajiwara, “Microairplane propelled by laser driven exotic target,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 80(23), 4318–4320 (2002).
A. V. Pakhomov and D. A. Gregory, “Ablative laser propulsion: an old concept revisited,” AIAA J. 38(4), 725–727 (2000).
Z. Y. Zheng, J. Zhang, X. Lu, Z. H. Hao, X. H. Yuan, Z. H. Wang, and Z. Y. Wei, “Characteristic investigation of ablative laser propulsion driven by nanosecond laser pulses,” Appl. Phys., A Mater. Sci. Process. 83(2), 329–332 (2006).
P. X. Ouyang, P. J. Li, E. G. Leksina, S. V. Michurin, and L. J. He, “Effect of liquid properties on laser ablation of aluminum and titanium alloys,” Appl. Surf. Sci. 360, 880–888 (2016).
Z. Y. Zheng, J. Zhang, Z. Q. Hao, Z. Zhang, M. Chen, X. Lu, Z. H. Wang, and Z. Y. Wei, “Paper airplane propelled by laser plasma channels generated by femtosecond laser pulses in air,” Opt. Express 13(26), 10616–10621 (2005).
Z. Y. Zheng, Z. J. Fan, S. W. Wang, A. G. Dong, J. Xing, and Z. L. Zhang, “The effect of viscosity of liquid propellant on laser plasma propulsion,” Chin. Phys. Lett. 29(9), 095202 (2012).
S. A. Metz, L. R. Hettche, R. L. Stegman, and J. T. Schriempf, “Effect of beam intensity on target response to high-intensity pulsed CO2 laser radiation,” J. Appl. Phys. 46(4), 1634–1642 (1975).
B. V. Lakatosh, D. B. Abramenko, V. V. Ivanov, V. V. Medvedev, V. M. Krivtsun, K. N. Koshelev, and A. M. Yakunin, “Propulsion of a flat tin target with pulsed CO2 laser radiation: measurements using a ballistic pendulum,” Laser Phys. Lett. 15(1), 016003 (2018).
S. Zhu, Y. F. Lu, M. H. Hong, and X. Y. Chen, “Laser ablation of solid substrates in water and ambient air,” J. Appl. Phys. 89(4), 2400–2403 (2001).
J. Chen, B. B. Li, H. C. Zhang, H. Qiang, Z. H. Shen, and X. W. Ni, “Enhancement of momentum coupling coefficient by cavity with toroidal bubble for underwater laser propulsion,” J. Appl. Phys. 113(6), 063107 (2013).
B. Han, Z. H. Shen, J. Lu, and X. W. Ni, “Laser propulsion for transport in water environment,” Mod. Phys. Lett. B 24(07), 641–648 (2010).
H. Qiang, J. Chen, B. Han, Z. H. Shen, J. Lu, and X. W. Ni, “Study of underwater laser propulsion using different target materials,” Opt. Express 22(14), 17532–17545 (2014).
R. Fabbro, J. Fournier, P. Ballard, D. Devaux, and J. Virmont, “Physical study of laser-produced plasma in confined geometry,” J. Appl. Phys. 68(2), 775–784 (1990).
M. R. Ahmad, Y. Jamil, M. Q. Zakaria, T. Hussain, and R. Ahmad, “Plasma confinement to enhance the momentum coupling coefficient in ablative laser micro-propulsion: a novel approach,” Laser Phys. Lett. 12(7), 076101 (2015).
D. Grojo, Ph. Delaporte, M. Sentis, O. H. Pakarinen, and A. S. Foster, “The so-called dry laser cleaning governed by humidity at the nanometer scale,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 92(3), 033108 (2008).
H. Yu, H. Li, L. Cui, S. Liu, and J. Yang, “Micro-gun based on laser pulse propulsion,” Sci. Rep. 7(1), 16299 (2017).
Z. Y. Zheng, H. Gao, L. Gao, J. Xing, Z. J. Fan, A. G. Dong, and Z. L. Zhang, “Laser plasma propulsion generation in nanosecond pulse laser interaction with polyimide film,” Appl. Phys., A Mater. Sci. Process. 115(4), 1439–1443 (2014).
H. C. Yu, L. G. Cui, K. Zhang, J. Yang, and H. Y. Li, “Effect of a fiber-capillary structure on nanosecond laser pulse propulsion,” Appl. Phys. A. 124, 37 (2018).
Z. Wang, Z. Y. Hou, S. L. Lui, D. Jiang, J. M. Liu, and Z. Li, “Utilization of moderate cylindrical confinement for precision improvement of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy signal,” Opt. Express 20(S6), A1011–A1018 (2012).
Z. Y. Zheng, J. Zhang, Y. Zhang, F. Liu, M. Chen, X. Lu, and Y. T. Li, “Enhancement of coupling coefficient of laser plasma propulsion by water confinement,” Appl. Phys., A Mater. Sci. Process. 85(4), 441–443 (2006).
H. C. Yu, H. Y. Li, Y. Wang, L. G. Cui, S. Q. Liu, and J. Yang, “Brief review on pulse laser propulsion,” Opt. Laser Technol. 100, 57–74 (2018).
C. Phipps, J. R. Luke, T. Lippert, M. Hauer, and A. Wokaun, “Micropropulsion using laser ablation,” Appl. Phys., A Mater. Sci. Process. 79(4–6), 1385–1389 (2004).
S. S. Harilal, B. O’Shay, Y. Z. Tao, and M. S. Tillack, “Ambient gas effects on the dynamics of laser-produced tin plume expansion,” J. Appl. Phys. 99(8), 083303 (2006).
Z. Q. Chen, X. B. Wang, D. L. Zuo, P. X. Lu, and J. W. Wang, “Investigation of Nd: YAG laser produced tin droplet plasma expansion,” Laser Phys. Lett. 13(5), 056002 (2016).
Z. Y. Zheng, Y. Zhang, W. G. Zhou, X. Lu, Y. T. Li, and J. Zhang, “High coupling efficiency generation in water confined laser plasma propulsion,” Chin. Phys. Lett. 24(2), 501–503 (2007).
T. Sizyuk and A. Hassanein, “Enhancing extreme ultraviolet photons emission in laser produced plasmas for advanced lithography,” Phys. Plasmas 19(8), 083102 (2012).
S. G. Demos, R. A. Negres, R. N. Raman, N. Shen, A. M. Rubenchik, and M. J. Matthews, “Mechanisms governing the interaction of metallic particles with nanosecond laser pulses,” Opt. Express 24(7), 7792–7815 (2016).
K. Mori, R. Maruyama, and K. Shimamura, “Energy conversion and momentum coupling of the sub-kJ laser ablation of aluminum in air atmosphere,” J. Appl. Phys. 118(7), 073304 (2015).
A. E. Hussein, P. K. Diwakar, S. S. Harilal, and A. Hassanein, “The role of laser wavelength on plasma generation and expansion of ablation plumes in air,” J. Appl. Phys. 113(14), 143305 (2013).
Fig. 1 Laser plasma propulsion PS particle experimental setup.
Fig. 2 (a) PS particle movement with energy fluence 0.314 J/cm2 (0.5 ms interval). (b) Distance and velocity of PS particle as a function of time. (c) Kinetic energy of PS particle and resistance as a function of energy fluence.
Fig. 3 PS particle movement process at different energy fluences: (a) 0.314 J/cm2, (b) 0.38 J/cm2, (c) 0.46 J/cm2, (d) PS particle speed as function of energy fluence, inset: Movement distance of PS particle as a function of energy fluence. (e) Momentum coupling coefficient Cm and momentum P as functions of energy fluence.
Fig. 4 Effects of confined geometry on PS particle propulsion efficiency. Experiments: (a) Without confined geometry (b) With confined geometry. Simulations: (c) Without confined geometry. (d) With confined geometry. (e) Normalized energy intensity distribution.
Fig. 5 (a) Plasma produced by air breakdown collides with PS particle. (b) Plasma image sequences at different energy fluences: (I) 0.38 J/cm2 (b) 0.548 J/cm2 (c) Uniform PS particle (d) PS particle kinetic (to R5) as a function of energy fluence.
Fig. 6 (a) Driving force analysis while the PS particle was impact by shock wave. (b) The resultant and resistance dependent on energy fluence.
Fig. 7 (a) PS particle swarm motion driven by plasma (shock wave) generated by air breakdown. (b) and (c) Shock wave produced by plasma expansion pushes PS particle swarm forward.

References: V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V.