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Imagine a solid state CMOS device that emits nanoparticle's of propellant; sort of an ion thruster without the high voltage, electrode arcing and grids that can short out from a misplaced dust mote.
Now imagine millions, billions or even trillions of them in a megawatt flat panel array used as a space craft propulsion module.
It's called NanoFET: Nanoparticle Field Emission Thruster
Summary:
* It can electrostatically charge and accelerate nanoparticles as propellant
* It could be tremendously flexible in controlling charge/mass (q/m) ratio to tune propulsion performance
* It uses scalable array (thousands to many millions) of micron-sized emitters. It is possible to have millions of emitters per square cm.
Advantages:
* Ability for broader set of missions and mission phases.
* Ability to decoupling of propulsion system design from the design of spacecraft.
NanoFET PDF
Article 1....
Article 2....
Now imagine millions, billions or even trillions of them in a megawatt flat panel array used as a space craft propulsion module.
It's called NanoFET: Nanoparticle Field Emission Thruster
Summary:
* It can electrostatically charge and accelerate nanoparticles as propellant
* It could be tremendously flexible in controlling charge/mass (q/m) ratio to tune propulsion performance
* It uses scalable array (thousands to many millions) of micron-sized emitters. It is possible to have millions of emitters per square cm.
Advantages:
* Ability for broader set of missions and mission phases.
* Ability to decoupling of propulsion system design from the design of spacecraft.
NanoFET PDF
Article 1....
Article 2....
Article 1:
Brian Gilchrist's design for a rocket ship sounds like a bad joke. For a start, its engine is about the size of a single bacterium. And for thrust it relies on the equivalent of chucking microscopic beer cans out of the spacecraft's rear window. Gilchrist, an electrical engineer at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, is not joking though. He proposes to harness the latest nanotechnology to create an engine that will make its way across the solar system by firing out minute metal particles like so much nano-sized grapeshot.
Needless to say, it will take more than just one of these nanoscale motors to drive a spacecraft; Gilchrist envisages arrays of many millions of them being bolted onto a space vehicle. Even then they will not have nearly enough oomph to launch a craft into orbit. Yet once up in space Gilchrist's "nanoparticle field emission thrusters", or nanoFETs, will come into their own. Little by little, they should be able to accelerate spacecraft and propel them across the cosmos more efficiently than ever before. They promise to be far more versatile than existing thrusters, capable of getting a crewed mission to Mars, say, yet also allowing the crew to precisely control the craft's position when it arrives in orbit. NASA seems to believe Gilchrist could be onto something. It has supplied $500,000 funding for his project from its Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) in Atlanta, Georgia. If all goes to plan, his tiny engine could end up going a very long way indeed.
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Brian Gilchrist's design for a rocket ship sounds like a bad joke. For a start, its engine is about the size of a single bacterium. And for thrust it relies on the equivalent of chucking microscopic beer cans out of the spacecraft's rear window. Gilchrist, an electrical engineer at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, is not joking though. He proposes to harness the latest nanotechnology to create an engine that will make its way across the solar system by firing out minute metal particles like so much nano-sized grapeshot.
Needless to say, it will take more than just one of these nanoscale motors to drive a spacecraft; Gilchrist envisages arrays of many millions of them being bolted onto a space vehicle. Even then they will not have nearly enough oomph to launch a craft into orbit. Yet once up in space Gilchrist's "nanoparticle field emission thrusters", or nanoFETs, will come into their own. Little by little, they should be able to accelerate spacecraft and propel them across the cosmos more efficiently than ever before. They promise to be far more versatile than existing thrusters, capable of getting a crewed mission to Mars, say, yet also allowing the crew to precisely control the craft's position when it arrives in orbit. NASA seems to believe Gilchrist could be onto something. It has supplied $500,000 funding for his project from its Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) in Atlanta, Georgia. If all goes to plan, his tiny engine could end up going a very long way indeed.
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Article 2:
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One intriguing aspect of nanoFET is that it uses MEMS/NEMS technology to enable a "flat-panel" thruster design that incorporates power processing as well as nanoparticle manufacture, storage, feed, extraction, and acceleration. This results in a modular and geometrically scaleable propulsion system, from watts to megawatts, allowing the decoupling of thruster design from spacecraft design.
Another advantage of this system is that it affords a much broader set of missions with a single engine type – nanoFETs have an unprecedented thrust-to-power ratio for electric propulsion systems; they can adjust specific impulse over a large range from 100s to 10,000s; they show a high efficiency range of over 90% over the entire specific impulse range; they do not have the life-limiting factors common in ion thrusters.
The system is also very flexible with regard to the size and type of particles that can be used. Almost any conductive nanoparticle, such as carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, as well as metal nanospheres and nanowires could be used. Currently, the researchers are experimenting with silver, nickel and copper nanoparticles ranging in size from 5 nm to 70 nm.
So far, the experimental results have validated the theoretical models and represent a significant step towards proving the fundamental feasibility of nanoFET.
>
One intriguing aspect of nanoFET is that it uses MEMS/NEMS technology to enable a "flat-panel" thruster design that incorporates power processing as well as nanoparticle manufacture, storage, feed, extraction, and acceleration. This results in a modular and geometrically scaleable propulsion system, from watts to megawatts, allowing the decoupling of thruster design from spacecraft design.
Another advantage of this system is that it affords a much broader set of missions with a single engine type – nanoFETs have an unprecedented thrust-to-power ratio for electric propulsion systems; they can adjust specific impulse over a large range from 100s to 10,000s; they show a high efficiency range of over 90% over the entire specific impulse range; they do not have the life-limiting factors common in ion thrusters.
The system is also very flexible with regard to the size and type of particles that can be used. Almost any conductive nanoparticle, such as carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, as well as metal nanospheres and nanowires could be used. Currently, the researchers are experimenting with silver, nickel and copper nanoparticles ranging in size from 5 nm to 70 nm.
So far, the experimental results have validated the theoretical models and represent a significant step towards proving the fundamental feasibility of nanoFET.