What this work contributes
Compares thin-film structures for low laser absorption, useful reflectivity, low areal mass and infrared heat rejection. A proposed figure of merit exposes the trade-off between reflectivity and sail mass rather than optimizing reflectivity alone.
Where the evidence stops
These are calculated materials designs. Their optical and thermal targets do not establish fabricated-sail survival, stable acceleration or flight performance.
Keep the conditions with the result
- Measured / modeled quantity
- Calculated reflectivity, absorptivity, emissivity and reflectivity-adjusted areal density
- Reported scale
- Relativistic-sail design context uses near-infrared intensities of order MW/cm²; not a measured operating rating.
- Conditions
- Modeled externally laser-illuminated thin-film sail with radiative cooling.
- Evidence context
- Theoretical comparison; an experimental reproduction is not reported in the reviewed abstract.
- Design use
- Link sail momentum calculations to absorption, thermal emission and total moving mass.
- Review access
- Publisher and institutional records compared; full main article not reviewed.
Original source
Ognjen Ilic, Cora M. Went, Harry A. Atwater. Nanophotonic Heterostructures for Efficient Propulsion and Radiative Cooling of Relativistic Light Sails. Nano Letters 18(9), 5583–5589 (2018).
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b02035
How we use it
This record belongs to Geometry & materials. Its evidence label describes the cited work, not the maturity of a Metric Flight device. Follow the original methods, corrections and conditions before transferring a result to a different geometry or scale.
Editorial note reviewed 19 October 2026. AI assisted research discovery and synthesis. Citation metadata and claims were checked against primary publication or institutional records; full-text access varies. Read the source for the complete method.