Optical Binding and Trapping

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Laser-Trapped Mirror Collaboration

 

Principal Investigators

Prof. Jin Au Kong and Dr. Tomasz M. Grzegorczyk, MIT
Prof. Jean-Marc Fournier, EPFL
Dr. Robert V. Stachnik, Christina River Institute
Prof. Elizabeth McCormack, Bryn Mawr College

Collaborators

Prof. Antoine Labeyrie, College de France and Observatoire de Haute-Provence
Prof. Pierre Jacquot, EPFL
Prof. Gerard Tayeb, Institut Fresnel (Marseille)
Prof. Robin Kaiser, Non-Linear Institute of Nice
Prof. René P. Salathé, EPFL
Marc Guillon, Université de Provence

Sponsor

NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC)

Concept

Two counter-propagating beams in space realize an intereference pattern able to trap particles in a single fringe. The fringe needs to be well designed and to form a parabolic shape. By trapping particle along this parabola, a giant dish is created that can be used for a space telescope. This dish has tremendous advantages (self-healing, lightweight, easy to deploy, etc). [See Prof. Labeyrie's paper.]

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