Side-pumped continuous-wave Nd:YAG solar laser with 5.4% slope efficiency

Liang, Dawei; Vistas, Cláudia R.; Almeida, Joana; Tibúrcio, Bruno D.; Garcia, Dário

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2018.12.029

Cited by 30 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…It is possible to distinguish two focusing schemes: i) in end‐pumping, the focused sunlight is introduced to the laser cavity through one of the end mirrors; [ 3,4 ] and ii) in side‐pumping, the light pumps the gain medium transversely to the resonator direction. [ 5,6 ] The advantages of side‐pumping include a reduced need for system cooling (due to a more homogeneous absorption along the gain medium), [ 7 ] higher laser beam quality (brightness), [ 8 ] and increased scalability (by simply expanding the gain volume). [ 9 ] The highest laser brightness was achieved in TEM 00 operation of side‐pumped systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar Pumping of Fiber Lasers with Solid‐State Luminescent Concentrators: Design Optimization by Ray Tracing

Dottermusch

Masuda

Endo

et al. 2021

Advanced Optical Materials

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Solar‐pumped lasers (SPLs) typically couple sunlight into the laser cavity using focusing optics and solar tracking. Luminescent solar concentrators (LSC) are an alternative, fully planar, scalable pump source that can concentrate diffuse light. For liquid LSC‐based SPLs, reflective cavities have been used to trap light and pump a Nd3+‐doped silica fiber. Here, three solid‐state LSC‐based SPL designs, in addition to the reflective cavity making use of total internal reflection, are analyzed by ray‐tracing simulations. Results are compared to a liquid LSC reference, also used for validating simulations. Substituting the liquid‐state LSC for a solid‐state LSC (with the fiber placed inside) allows a 7‐fold enhancement of the gain coefficient, corresponding to a 30‐fold enhancement of the laser output power. An additional 4‐fold increase of the output power is possible with a fiber of kilometers length. These results show a roadmap for realizing SPLs with output powers on the order of 2.8 W m−2 under terrestrial sunlight, while keeping an identical reflective cavity used for the liquid LSC design. In addition, room‐temperature operation should be possible with certain solid LSC designs, and the necessity for a reflective cavity comprised of costly dielectric mirrors may be relieved.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar Pumping of Fiber Lasers with Solid‐State Luminescent Concentrators: Design Optimization by Ray Tracing

Dottermusch

Masuda

Endo

et al. 2021

Advanced Optical Materials

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“…For the side-pumping scheme, the maximum result was 17.0 W/ m 2 according to Ref. [13], which is about 1.5 times less than the result for a combined pumping scheme. For the increase the efficiency we proposed a new approach in [14,15] which based on the use of external sensitizers (solar spectrum frequency converters) for both of end-and side-pumping schemes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

A Simple Multi-Pass Side-Pumping Scheme for Solar Powered Lasers

Payziyev¹,

Makhmudov²

2019

Recent Adv Photonics Opt

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The new multi-pass configuration of side-pumped Nd:YAG solar laser for enhancement of conversion efficiency is studied by computer simulation of the laser system. The active medium in the form of a slab providing effective heat dissipation during side pumping by concentrated solar radiation at the focus of a parabolic concentrator with a diameter of 1 m is considered. It is shown that multi-pass configuration doubles the output laser power.

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“…Additionally, both rod ends can be more easily accessed, enabling the optimization of more resonant cavity parameters and consequently leading to improvements in the laser beam quality and a more efficient TEM 00 mode laser beam extraction. With the side-pumping configuration, the current records for multimode solar laser collection and solar-to-multimode power conversion efficiencies are 17.0 W/m 2 and 2.43%, respectively [50], whereas, for TEM 00 mode laser power, experimental records of 3.1 W/m 2 collections and 0.40% conversion efficiencies were achieved [50]. The 3.2 W/m 2 TEM 01 * mode solar-to-laser collection efficiency and 0.46% solar-to-TEM 01 * mode power conversion efficiency were also obtained [50].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the side-pumping configuration, the current records for multimode solar laser collection and solar-to-multimode power conversion efficiencies are 17.0 W/m 2 and 2.43%, respectively [50], whereas, for TEM 00 mode laser power, experimental records of 3.1 W/m 2 collections and 0.40% conversion efficiencies were achieved [50]. The 3.2 W/m 2 TEM 01 * mode solar-to-laser collection efficiency and 0.46% solar-to-TEM 01 * mode power conversion efficiency were also obtained [50]. The production of this non-conventional laser beam with direct solar conversion showed the remarkable versatility that solar laser systems can offer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Its asymmetrical configuration ensured the best overlap between the solar pump radiation and the laser mode volumes. This novel solar laser system was able to numerically simulate top hat and doughnut-shaped laser beams, which are of major importance for applications that simultaneously require accuracy and high-temperature processing while competing in efficiency with the most advanced solar laser systems with side-pumping configuration [50]. As far as we know, no numerical simulation of doughnut-shaped and top hat solar laser beams was previously reported.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Doughnut-Shaped and Top Hat Solar Laser Beams Numerical Analysis

et al. 2021

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Aside from the industry-standard Gaussian intensity profile, top hat and non-conventional laser beam shapes, such as doughnut-shaped profile, are ever more required. The top hat laser beam profile is well-known for uniformly irradiating the target material, significantly reducing the heat-affected zones, typical of Gaussian laser irradiation, whereas the doughnut-shaped laser beam has attracted much interest for its use in trapping particles at the nanoscale and improving mechanical performance during laser-based 3D metal printing. Solar-pumped lasers can be a cost-effective and more sustainable alternative to accomplish these useful laser beam distributions. The sunlight was collected and concentrated by six primary Fresnel lenses, six folding mirror collectors, further compressed with six secondary fused silica concentrators, and symmetrically distributed by six twisted light guides around a 5.5 mm diameter, 35 mm length Nd:YAG rod inside a cylindrical cavity. A top hat laser beam profile (Mx2 = 1.25, My2 = 1.00) was computed through both ZEMAX® and LASCAD® analysis, with 9.4 W/m2 TEM00 mode laser power collection and 0.99% solar-to-TEM00 mode power conversion efficiencies. By using a 5.8 mm laser rod diameter, a doughnut-shaped solar laser beam profile (Mx2 = 1.90, My2 = 1.00) was observed. The 9.8 W/m2 TEM00 mode laser power collection and 1.03% solar-to-TEM00 mode power conversion efficiencies were also attained, corresponding to an increase of 2.2 and 1.9 times, respectively, compared to the state-of-the-art experimental records. As far as we know, the first numerical simulation of doughnut-shaped and top hat solar laser beam profiles is reported here, significantly contributing to the understanding of the formation of such beam profiles.

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Side-pumped continuous-wave Nd:YAG solar laser with 5.4% slope efficiency

Cited by 30 publications

References 26 publications

Solar Pumping of Fiber Lasers with Solid‐State Luminescent Concentrators: Design Optimization by Ray Tracing

Solar Pumping of Fiber Lasers with Solid‐State Luminescent Concentrators: Design Optimization by Ray Tracing

A Simple Multi-Pass Side-Pumping Scheme for Solar Powered Lasers

Doughnut-Shaped and Top Hat Solar Laser Beams Numerical Analysis

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