Review of CO2 Laser Ablation Propulsion with Polyoxymethylene

Polyoxymethylene (POM) has been widely studied as a promising laser propulsion propellant when paired to CO2 laser radiation. POM is a good test case for studying ablation properties of polymer materials, and within limits, for study of general trends in laser ablation-induced impulse. Mechanisms such as vaporization, combustion, and plasma are evaluated and a description is made of the link between the fluence of the beam and the resulting temperature of the target. For characterization of propulsion parameters, almost all previous studies of POM considered limited ranges of ambient pressure and incident fluence. As a result, despite many studies, there is no general understanding of POM ablation that takes into account pressure, spot area, fluence, and effects from confinement and combustion. This paper reviews and synthesizes CO2 laser ablation propulsion work using POM targets in order to make preliminary steps to address this deficiency. Previously published data is compared in terms of ablated mass ...