Conical nozzles for pulsed laser propulsion
2008
A CO 2 laser of 300 ns pulse length, operating at 10.6 μm wavelength and from 1-4 J pulse energy was used to ablate
carbon-doped Delrin ® (polyoxymethylene, or POM) targets in a set of conical aluminum minithrusters at standard
temperature and pressure. Nozzles with lengths ranging from 0.5 - 5 cm were used (corresponding to expansion ratios of
about 4 to 16), as well as a bare sample with no nozzle. A piezoelectric force sensor was used to record the imparted
impulse for fluences in the range of 1-100 J/cm 2 for each thruster. The effect of increasing the expansion ratio on the
impulse generation for single pulse laser propulsion experiments will be described. The study will also clarify the effect
of confining air from an ambient atmosphere in augmenting impulse generation.
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