Force analysis of a laser beam incident on a fluid jet

For the purposes of investigating the use of a small perturbation to control the break up of a fluid jet, an analysis was performed which describes the force incident on a fluid jet due to radiation pressure. Two cases were addressed; one which considers only reflection, as occurs when the fluid is opaque, and one in which reflection and a subsequent transmission are considered, as when the fluid is semitransparent. The results show that in both cases, for a well focused laser beam, a finite force can be obtained which is not critically influenced by the location of the laser beam with respect to the fluid jet.