Researchers have used lasers to steer tiny, micron-scale devices called metajets in full three-dimensional motion, a result described as a breakthrough in optical propulsion. The team says this approach could one day help power space travel without carrying traditional fuel. By contrast, current rocket technology would take hundreds of thousands of years to reach Alpha Centauri.
The work comes from the mechanical engineering department at Texas A&M University and was led by Shoufeng Lan, assistant professor and director of the Lab for Advanced Nanophotonics. The study was published in Newton and introduces devices that generate controlled motion when illuminated by laser light.
Each metajet is made from a metasurface: an ultrathin, nanostructured layer that shapes and redirects light. By designing the shape, orientation and placement of features, the researchers controlled how light transfers momentum and produces a measurable force. They compare the effect to ping pong balls bouncing off a surface.
Unlike methods that shape the light beam itself, this design builds control into the material. The force depends on the power of the light rather than the size of the device, so the concept could scale. Devices were fabricated at the Texas A&M AggieFab Nanofabrication Facility, with support from TEES, and tested in fluid to offset gravity. The team seeks funding to extend tests into microgravity and notes related research in Europe and at Caltech and RIT.
Difficult words
- metajet — tiny light-powered device at micron sizemetajets
- metasurface — ultrathin nanostructured layer that shapes light
- optical propulsion — movement produced by light pressure or force
- momentum — quantity that describes motion and force transfer
- micron-scale — measuring about one millionth of a meter
- fabricate — made or built, often in a factory or labfabricated
- microgravity — condition with very small gravity, near weightlessness
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Discussion questions
- Do you think using light for propulsion could be a practical way to travel in space? Why or why not?
- What challenges do you imagine scientists face when testing these devices in microgravity?
- How might building control into the material itself be better than shaping the light beam?
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