Beam Fractionation — Spectral Allocation
> Sell each band to the customer who wants it. Stop charging anyone for the rest.
Why it works
Solar output is broadband. Industrial demand is not. Broadband-only delivery makes customers pay for photons they reject and forces the swarm to sell at the lowest-margin band's price. Fractionation splits the spectrum and prices each band separately.
Physical mechanism
| Tool | Use |
|---|---|
| Dichroic stack (multilayer dielectric film) | Bulk band split, >99% per-stage reflectivity, minimal mass overhead on standard mirror film |
| Volume Bragg grating | Sub-nm bandpass for ultra-selective applications |
| Prismatic disperser | Angular fan-out — multiple receivers at known angular positions, each a different band |
Three architectural locations
| Where | Trade-off |
|---|---|
| Source-side (mirror coating) | Most efficient; inflexible — band fixed by coating |
| Intermediate sorting tier | Flexible; higher per-installation cost |
| Conversion node (final) | Last-mile customer segmentation when upstream is broadband |
Band-by-band market
| Band | Tier | Customers |
|---|---|---|
| Coherent narrowband UV | Premium | Photolithography, sterilization-at-scale |
| Soret-equivalent resonance | Premium | ATP-fed slime, photosynthetic optimization |
| Comm-frequency lines | Premium | Relay feeds, isolated comms |
| Coherent narrowband visible | Mid-premium | Metrology, precision fab |
| Broadband visible (illumination) | Commodity | Habitat illumination, general PV |
| Broadband NIR | Commodity | Thermal PV, mass-driver power |
| Mid-IR | Discount | Heat-cycle thermal |
| Far-IR / long-wave | Often stranded | Dump or radiate-to-space |
ATP-resonance band — canonical example
Hyperscale ATP-fed Schleimfarmen contract for a 4–6 nm Soret-equivalent band. Near-quantum efficiency at receiver. 10 GW spectral grant ≈ 25–35 GW broadband-equivalent useful work. Operator saves on radiator capacity. SMA saves on allocation. Spectral grant is more expensive per delivered watt, cheaper per useful watt. This is the structural reason hyperscale ATP-fed installations pencil out at all.
The ATP industry and spectral fractionation infrastructure co-evolved. Each justifies the other.
Stranded dump
∝8–15% of intercepted flux currently unallocated. Dumped = simply not reflected. The swarm's slack. Reducing it is a standing SMA strategic objective.
Discount-band auctions — short-notice contracts (hours to weeks) for soon-to-dump bands. Opportunistic buyers: temporary thermal applications, low-rate compute, deep-space relay heating. Spot pricing, no queue priority.
Customer-side hardware
Narrowband receiver ≠ broadband + filter. Aperture, conversion stage, thermal management all band-specific. Grants are sticky — switching bands is a refit, not a setting change.
SMA grant becomes multi-dimensional
Grant := receiver coords
× total power
× spectral profile (band × wattage)
× coherence (broadbandnarrow / coherent narrow)
× modulation schedule
× durationPricing reflects all dimensions. Grant brokers emerge as a recognized specialty class — independent intermediaries translating operator demand into SMA-acceptable grant specifications.
Secondary market: broadband grants resell freely; narrowband grants trade thin and volatile.
Cone publication includes spectral profile
A cone carrying UV is a different hazard than a cone carrying NIR at the same intensity. Cone-edge skimming kits are now band-tuned. Senior flea pilots distinguish themselves by band-fluency.
→ atmospheric-beam-safety.md, fleas.md
Coverage trajectory
| Year | Spectral coverage | State |
|---|---|---|
| ∝3,240 (now) | 40–60% | Construction Spine mid-buildout |
| ∝mid-3,500s | >80% (projected) | Late Construction Spine |
| Mature forward-canon | Full | "Directed microwave and laser beaming" era |
dyson-swarm.md, solar-monetary-authority.md, pure-atp.md