Feasibility of a nanosecond-pulse, high specific impulse microthruster

There exists a critical need for innovative low power electric propulsion thrusters for stationkeeping and orbit maneuvering of small satellites. Highly desirable features are thrust-to-weight ratio, high specific impulse operation, environmentalcompatibility and lifetimeWe believe these requirements can be met by a nanosecond-pulse version of the millisecond-pulse mLPT which we earlier invented and developed. The nsmLPT will be driven by a new type of diode-pumped, repetitively-pulsed laser that we will design in thiseffort.The new microthruster will have dramatically different parameters in order to achieve performance improvements appropriate to DoD requirements. These will be: a) 6 orders of magnitude shorter laser pulse, b) being able to address metallic and other verylow outgassing propellants, not just organics, c) being able to address them in reflective rather than transmissive incidence to avoid the complexity of transmissive target tape designs, d) being able to achieve very high specific impulse Isp with goodthrust to power ratio Cm, and e) being able to