Polymers as fuel for laser plasma thrusters: a correlation of thrust with material and plasma properties by mass spectrometry

Lukas Urech; Thomas Lippert; Claude R. Phipps; Alexander Wokaun

doi:10.1117/12.672776

7 June 2006 Polymers as fuel for laser plasma thrusters: a correlation of thrust with material and plasma properties by mass spectrometry

Lukas Urech, Thomas Lippert, Claude R. Phipps, Alexander Wokaun

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6261, High-Power Laser Ablation VI; 626114 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.672776
Event: High-Power Laser Ablation 2006, 2006, Taos, NM, United States

Abstract

The micro laser plasma thruster (μLPT) is a micro propulsion device, designed for the steering and propelling of small satellites (1 to 10 kg). A laser is focused onto a polymer layer on a substrate to form a plasma. The thrust produced by this plasma is used to control the satellite motion. To understand the influence of the specific properties of the polymers, three different "high"- and "low"-energetic polymers were tested: poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) as a low-energetic reference polymer that showed the best properties among commercial polymers, a glycidyl azide polymer (GAP), and poly(vinyl nitrate) (PVN) as high-energetic polymers. It was necessary to dope the polymers with carbon nanoparticles or an IR-dye to achieve absorption at the irradiation wavelength in the near IR. Decomposition into smaller fragmentation was measured for the energetic polymers than for PVC corresponding well to the higher momentum coupling coefficient of the energetic polymers, which indicates that more thrust can be gained from a chosen incident laser power. The measurements of the kinetic energies of selected decomposition fragments revealed no significant difference between the different carbon doped polymers. Only for GAP with the IR-dye a change in the ratio between ions with different kinetic energy was observed with increasing fluence. More C⁺ ions with higher kinetic energy were detected at higher fluences. No correlation between the kinetic energies of the ablation products and the specific impulse could be established for the obtained data.

Citation Download Citation

Lukas Urech, Thomas Lippert, Claude R. Phipps, and Alexander Wokaun "Polymers as fuel for laser plasma thrusters: a correlation of thrust with material and plasma properties by mass spectrometry", Proc. SPIE 6261, High-Power Laser Ablation VI, 626114 (7 June 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.672776

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