Starshot which is the above proposal is likely based uses 10 meter square solar sails that are 100 atoms thick.
> In order to reach relativistic speeds, the Starshot lightsail should have an area of ~10 m2 and be kept to a mass of under ~1 gram, which translates into an equivalent thickness of approximately 100 atomic layers ... With radiative cooling being the sole mechanism for passive thermal management in space, we quantify stringent requirements on material absorptivity that enable the lightsail to withstand high laser intensity and prevent excessive heating and mechanical failure.
They seem to think that heat dissipating is within the realm of plausibility
It's a nice idea but surely any variation in mass of the lightsail will result in significant forces which will literally pull the sail apart. And with a thickness of 100 atoms that variation might be just a few atoms. I can't see how this can be manufactured to take such high forces and be so light and thin.
> In order to reach relativistic speeds, the Starshot lightsail should have an area of ~10 m2 and be kept to a mass of under ~1 gram, which translates into an equivalent thickness of approximately 100 atomic layers ... With radiative cooling being the sole mechanism for passive thermal management in space, we quantify stringent requirements on material absorptivity that enable the lightsail to withstand high laser intensity and prevent excessive heating and mechanical failure.
They seem to think that heat dissipating is within the realm of plausibility
Materials challenges for the Starshot lightsail, Nature Materials, 2018, https://daedalus.caltech.edu/files/2018/05/Materials-challne...