Diffraction and Scattering Modeling for Laser Power Beaming in Lunar Environment
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866912490721378304 |
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| author | Jiwan-Mercier, Yanni Dönmez, Barış Karabulut-Kurt, Güneş Loranger, Sébastien |
| author_facet | Jiwan-Mercier, Yanni Dönmez, Barış Karabulut-Kurt, Güneş Loranger, Sébastien |
| contents | Reliable energy delivery is a critical requirement for
long-term lunar missions, particularly in regions with limited
solar access, such as polar craters and during extended lunar
nights. Optical Power Beaming (OPB) using high-power lasers
offers a promising alternative to conventional solar power, but
the effects of suspended lunar dust on beam propagation remain
poorly understood. This study introduces a detailed simulation
model that incorporates both diffraction and height-dependent
scattering by the electrostatically suspended lunar regolith. Un like prior approaches, which assumed uniform dust layers or
center-to-center transmission loss, our model uses generalized
diffraction theory and refractive index gradients derived from
particle density to assess beam deformation and attenuation. The
results show that even in ground-to-ground scenarios, lunar dust
significantly degrades energy transfer efficiency, dropping from
57% to 3.7% over 50 km in dust-free vs. dusty conditions with
175 nm particles. Increasing the particle size to 250 nm limits the
viable transmission range to below 30 km at 6% efficiency. The
study further demonstrates that raising the laser source height
can improve efficiency, achieving 91% for a distance of 5 km
and 25% at 50 km when the source is positioned 12 m above
ground. These findings underscore the importance of system
elevation and dust modeling in lunar OPB design and reveal
the mission-critical role of particle size distribution, especially in
environments disturbed by human activity. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_13982 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Diffraction and Scattering Modeling for Laser Power Beaming in Lunar Environment Jiwan-Mercier, Yanni Dönmez, Barış Karabulut-Kurt, Güneş Loranger, Sébastien Systems and Control Reliable energy delivery is a critical requirement for long-term lunar missions, particularly in regions with limited solar access, such as polar craters and during extended lunar nights. Optical Power Beaming (OPB) using high-power lasers offers a promising alternative to conventional solar power, but the effects of suspended lunar dust on beam propagation remain poorly understood. This study introduces a detailed simulation model that incorporates both diffraction and height-dependent scattering by the electrostatically suspended lunar regolith. Un like prior approaches, which assumed uniform dust layers or center-to-center transmission loss, our model uses generalized diffraction theory and refractive index gradients derived from particle density to assess beam deformation and attenuation. The results show that even in ground-to-ground scenarios, lunar dust significantly degrades energy transfer efficiency, dropping from 57% to 3.7% over 50 km in dust-free vs. dusty conditions with 175 nm particles. Increasing the particle size to 250 nm limits the viable transmission range to below 30 km at 6% efficiency. The study further demonstrates that raising the laser source height can improve efficiency, achieving 91% for a distance of 5 km and 25% at 50 km when the source is positioned 12 m above ground. These findings underscore the importance of system elevation and dust modeling in lunar OPB design and reveal the mission-critical role of particle size distribution, especially in environments disturbed by human activity. |
| title | Diffraction and Scattering Modeling for Laser Power Beaming in Lunar Environment |
| topic | Systems and Control |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.13982 |