PHOTONIC ASSOCIATES, LLC

PHOTONIC ASSOCIATES, LLC

200A Ojo de la Vaca Road, Santa Fe, NM 87508 USA

1-505-466-3877

Photonic Associates, LLC (PALLC) is a Santa Fe high-technology company founded by
Dr. Claude Phipps in 1995. PALLC is a veteran-owned, Santa Fe high-technology company to provide detailed theoretical and experimental investigation of systems based on laser-surface interactions, related lasers and sensors, especially in the new field of laser space propulsion which we helped create. We became a partnership in 2004. PA maintains a 20-year database of major results in laser-surface interaction. We have completed demanding technical contracts for NASA, AFOSR, AFRL Edwards, DoD, MDA and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), as well as numerous commercial entities. You can browse Dr. Phipps' selected publications here. Not only that, some personal opinions here!

International conferences: PA has initiated and organized seven international conferences on High Power Laser Ablation, since 1998, in Osaka, Santa Fe and Taos.

HPLA 2012 will be held at the Bishops Lodge Resort and Spa April 29-May, 2012. Our theme is "Physics in the Wild West." Setting the stage will be horseback rides in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains with a dinner after. This will be our best meeting ever! Keynote speakers include Dr. Chrisopher Barty (LLNL), Dr. Stuart Cameron (NRO), Prof. Richard Haglund (Vanderbilt) and special remarks from space featuring astronaut Dr. Donald Pettit. This year, there are brand new sessions on Space Debris Remediation, Nanoengineering, Frontiers of Materials Characterization, Microscopic Relaxation Phenomena, and Biological Applications.

Typically, 15 countries are represented at HPLA meetings, and 150 papers presented on basic laser-surface interaction physics, advances in chemical lasers, electric discharge and optically-pumped gas lasers, novel applications in physics and electronics, polymers for ablation, short-pulse laser-matter interactions, materials modification and procesing with ultrashort pulses, three-dimensional microstructuring, laser surface cleaning and laser ablation propulsion. Keynote speakers in the past have included Prof. Charles Townes, co-inventor of the laser.

We've created a whole new conference this year! By now, you've heard about our Space Station astronauts having to hide out in the Soyuz capsule yet again Saturday March 24 because of unexpected space debris zipping by too close for comfort. I can't think of a better way to introduce our exciting and comprehensive session on Space Debris Remediation, chaired by Steve Libby of Livermore.

It is not too late to register. If you would like to present a paper, there's still room for a few posters, and we have always held that our poster session is the heart of the conference. Please send your abstract immediately to crphipps@photonicassociates.com and register.

Recent work:

• Laser Propulsion Review: Entitled "Review: Laser-Ablation Propulsion," this is a review of this exciting field from its inception in 1972 to the latest laser-electric hybrid acceleration schemes and laser engines that have created 2N thrust. Thirty-three pages, with eleven coauthors, it includes relevant theory 52 figures and 172 references.

• Laser Orbital Debris Removal Update: Laser space debris concept better explained

• Catcher's Mitt: Why a big block of foam in space won't work for clearing space debris

• Laser Plasma Thruster created as a prototype with Phase II SBIR prime contract funding. We welcome further investment to turn this into a commercial product

• A practical plug-in Prius hybrid battery charger is in testing phase.

Expertise: Our main experience is with laser space propulsion systems and concepts. Examples are the high-thrust and high-exhaust velocity versions of the laser plasma thruster (LPT) which have application to satellite propulsion. The LPT generates 10 millinewtons thrust at 3 millinewton/optical watt and 250 seconds specific impulse (Isp) in the millisecond-pulse model. The nanosecond pulse model has produced 3ks Isp in tests. We have proposed liquid fuel extensions of this design capable of generating 1 N thrust and 10ks Isp. We also have expertise in linear and nonlinear optics, magneto-optics and space system design.

Patents:

· The Laser Plasma Thruster (LPT), U.S. Patent 6,530,212 granted March 11, 2003

· A new rotational motion sensor, U.S. Patent 7,460,243 granted December 2, 2008

Clients have included:

· AEgis Technologies Group, Huntsville, AL

· AFRL Edwards AFB

· Alliant Tech Systems, Newington, VA

· Anteon Corporation, Dayton, OH

· Bekey Designs, Inc.

· Data Technology, Inc., Woburn, MA

· Innovation Photonics, Verona, NJ

• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

· NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC

· NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center, Huntsville, AL

· Northeast Science and Technology, Williamsburg, VA

· Red Cone Research, Conifer, CO

· Sirius Associates, Huntsville, AL

· US Air Force Office of Scientific Research

· US Department of Defense

· US Missile Defense Agency

PA analytical and numerical models:

· A widely-used analytical model for predicting pressure generation on opaque surfaces in vacuum, caused by laser pulse duration from 100ps to 1ms, across the spectrum from excimer to carbon dioxide laser wavelengths.

· Codes which calculate 1-D pressure and impulse, with a smooth transition between the vapor regime (from impulse threshold to plasma threshold) and plasma-dominated regimes

· A code which simulates ground-to-orbit flight of a cone-shaped ablation-driven vehicle through a real atmosphere with appropriate velocity- and density-dependent drag coefficients

PA inventions: The laser plasma thruster (LPT) and the "ORION" laser space debris clearing concept, which has received substantial study phase funding from NASA. In the ORION validation study, PA treated all aspects of system design [adaptive optics, propagation, nonlinear optics, laser design, acquisition and tracking] as well as the laser-debris interaction. For the thruster development, several torsion pendula with dramatic new capabilities were created and used.