Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2025

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces
Published on: June 7, 2019
High forward thrust metasurface beam-riding sail
Abstract:
The radiation pressure force and torque on a one-dimensional bi-grating composed of a Si-SiO2 high contrast binary metagrating is analyzed for the purpose of stable beam riding whereupon a high power laser having an expanding Gaussian irradiance distribution propels the grating in outer space, free from gravitational forces. The binary metagrating structure has been simultaneously optimized to afford high forward thrust, and corrective restoring forces and torques in the event of small linear and angular disturbances. We demonstrate that stability may be enhanced at the expense of forward thrust. The validity of our metamaterial findings is reinforced owing to good agreements between finite-difference time-domain and finite element numerical methods. To reduce mass and enhance forward acceleration this laser-driven sail was designed to be free of a stabilizing boom.
Related Concept Videos
Deflection of a Beam
Singularity functions, described in an earlier lesson, are powerful mathematical tools that represent discontinuities within a function commonly encountered in structural loading...
Shear on the Horizontal Face of a Beam Element
Beams with Symmetric Loadings
The M/EI...
Impact Loading on a Cantilever Beam
When an object is dropped onto the free end of a cantilever, its potential energy due to gravity is...
Beams with Unsymmetric Loadings
The first moment-area theorem determines the slope at any point on the beam. This theorem indicates that the change in slope between two points on a beam...
Hydrostatic Pressure Force on a Plane Surface

