• Chinese Optics Letters
  • Vol. 3, Issue 2, 0276 (2005)
Jing Li and Zhiping Tang
Author Affiliations
  • Key Lab for Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials (LMBD), Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027
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    Jing Li, Zhiping Tang. Laser micro-impulse torsion pendulum[J]. Chinese Optics Letters, 2005, 3(2): 0276 Copy Citation Text show less

    Abstract

    In order to investigate the feasibility regarding micro-satellite posture steering by laser micro-propulsion, a laser torsion pendulum has been set up so as to get first-hand basic physical and mechanical parameters on laser micro-propulsion. The instrumentation consists of the optical, mechanical, and electrical sub-systems. The optical system includes the main beam optics, the measuring optics, and the observation optics. The mechanical system includes the gyration apparatus, transverse translation stage, vertical translator, focal lenses translator, calibration pendulum translator, and vacuum chamber. For the electrical system a computer is used to control stepping motors to drive the above moving apparatuses. With this instrument the calibration experiment and laser ablation experiment have been carried out. The experimental results demonstrate that the instrument has the capacity to measure impulse down to 10^(-8) N.s with an error of about 10.4%, which can satisfy the requirement of micro-impulse measurement.
    Jing Li, Zhiping Tang. Laser micro-impulse torsion pendulum[J]. Chinese Optics Letters, 2005, 3(2): 0276
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