A solar sail based on the physics of diffracted light provides a means of harnessing opto-mechanical momentum for in-space propulsion. As an example a heuristic roll maneuver of a diffractive sail is found to produce a spiral trajectory that provides a high orbital inclination angle at a close solar orbit. A comparison of five-year spiral trajectories of ideal diffractive and reflective sails reveals that the former achieves a higher solar inclination angle and a smaller orbital radius than the latter. We envision placing a constellation of diffractive solar sails around the sun to collect images and other data for space weather monitoring and heliophysics science. For illustration purposes we consider a series of 14 [kg], 400 [m${}^2$] lightsails at various inclination angles, all positioned at 0.32 [AU] within six years. This paper may inspire materials scientists to design and fabricate thin novel optical metamaterial films that efficiently diffract light at large angles across the solar spectrum for future solar sails. Mission designers may also be prompted to imagine alternatives beyond reflective sails.

基于衍射光物理学的太阳帆提供了一种利用光机械动量进行空间推进的手段。例如，发现衍射帆的启发式滚转机动会产生螺旋轨迹，该轨迹在接近的太阳轨道上提供高轨道倾角。对理想衍射帆和反射帆的五年螺旋轨迹的比较表明，前者比后者实现了更高的太阳倾角和更小的轨道半径。我们设想在太阳周围放置一个衍射太阳帆星座，以收集图像和其他数据，用于空间天气监测和太阳物理学科学。出于说明目的，我们考虑一系列 14 [kg]、400 [m${}^2$] 各种倾斜角度的光帆，在六年内都定位在 0.32 [AU]。这篇论文可能会激励材料科学家设计和制造薄的新型光学超材料薄膜，这些薄膜可以有效地在太阳光谱上以大角度衍射光，以用于未来的太阳帆。任务设计师也可能会被提示去想象除反光帆之外的其他选择。