Solar-pumped laser

The two most studied lasing media for solar-pumped lasers have been iodine,De Young et al. Preliminary Design and Cost of a 1-Megawatt Solar-Pumped Iodide Laser Space-to-Space Transmission Station, NASA Technical Memorandum, 1987 ([https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19870017752_1987017752.pdf Original version], [https://web.archive.org/web/20100520162247/http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19870017752_1987017752.pdf WebCite archive]), Retrieved 2011-06-23 with a laser wavelength of 1.31 micrometers, and NdCrYAG, which lases at 1.06 micrometers wavelength. Solar-pumped semiconductor lasers have also been proposed by LandisG.A. Landis, "New Approaches for a Solar-Pumped GaAs Laser," Optics Communications, 92, pp 261-265 (1992). ([http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994SPIE.2121...58L Abstract]) and others.I.M. Tsidulko, "Semiconductor Laser Pumped by Solar Radiation," Soviet Journal of Quantum Electronics 22 (5), pp. 463-466 (1992).

Solar-pumped lasers are not used commercially because the low cost of electricity in most locations means that other more efficient types of lasers that run on electrical power can be more economically used. Solar pumped lasers might become useful in off-grid locations.

Very fine grained dispersed powders can be produced by the use of laser synthesis technology.

{{cite journal

|title=Transformation of concentrated sunlight into laser radiation on small parabolic concentrators

|url=http://jrse.aip.org/resource/1/jrsebh/v3/i5/p053102_s1?view=fulltext

|publisher=American Institute of Physics

|journal=Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy

|volume=3

|issue=5

|author = Sh. D. Payziyeva

|author2=S. A. Bakhramov |author3=A. K. Kasimov

|location = Scientific and Production Association “Akadempribor”, Tashkent 100125, Uzbekistan }}

A leader in this field is Shigeaki Uchida and his team in Japan (Tokyo/Osaka).{{cite web |title=Can Lasers Help Decrease Our Dependence on Fossil Fuels? |url=http://www.photonics.com/Content/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=30649 |access-date=2009-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160515142312/http://www.photonics.com/Content/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=30649 |archive-date=2016-05-15 }} Their design uses Fresnel lenses and a solar-pumped NdCrYAG laser to drive a magnesium-based cycle, which produces hydrogen gas as its product.{{cite web |title=Solar light pumped laser and cooling method of solar light pumped laser, USPTO Application #: 20080225912 |url=http://www.freshpatents.com/Solar-light-pumped-laser-and-cooling-method--of-solar-light-pumped-laser-dt20080918ptan20080225912.php |access-date=2009-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217004241/http://www.freshpatents.com/Solar-light-pumped-laser-and-cooling-method--of-solar-light-pumped-laser-dt20080918ptan20080225912.php |archive-date=2012-02-17 }}

Since there is no 'grid' power in space, most spacecraft today use solar power sources, mostly photovoltaic solar cells. Powering lasers requires high levels of power, so the inefficiency of PV solar cells (usually less than 27% efficiency) motivates interest in solar pumping of lasers.Geoffrey A. Landis, "Prospects for Solar Pumped Semiconductor Lasers," Paper SPIE 2121-09, Laser Power Beaming, SPIE Proceedings Volume 2121, pp. 58-65, January 27–28, 1994 ([http://www.mill-creek-systems.com/HighLift/Climbers/solar_laser_SPIE1.pdf web version] access date 2009-11-10)

Other potential benefits of solar-pumped lasers might be reduced weight and reduced number of components, affording higher reliability (reduced number of failure modes) versus an electrically pumped laser powered from PV cells. They can also be used for deep space communications, sensors for conditions on earth, detecting and tracking objects in space, as well as power transmission.

There have been proposals to use solar-pumped laser for solar-energy conversion, shown how to efficiently convert solar into electrical energy, taking advantage of laser amplification and intra-cavity use of a low-efficiency converter such as PV cells.

{{cite journal

|title=Intra-cavity laser-assisted solar-energy conversion

|url=https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.493727

|publisher=Optical Society of America

|journal=J. Opt. Soc. Am. B

|volume=40

|issue=8

|author = I. Jiménez

|author2= S. Wallentowitz

}}

A proposal to use the solar furnace of Uzbekistan to power a solar-pumped Nd:YAG laser would have been the world's largest system of its kind, at up to 1MW of solar input power.{{cite book|chapter=Laser on the big solar concentrator |doi=10.1109/CAOL.2005.1553831|isbn=0-7803-9130-6|title=Proceedings of CAOL 2005. Second International Conference on Advanced Optoelectronics and Lasers, 2005|year=2005|last1=Bakhramov|first1=S.A.|last2=Payziyev|first2=Sh.D.|last3=Klychev|first3=Sh.I.|last4=Kasimov|first4=A.K.|last5=Abdurakhmanov|first5=A.A.|volume=1|pages=109–111}}

However, current research efforts are focused on combining the output from several smaller concentrators,{{cite web |title=Parabolic mirrors concentrate sunlight to power lasers |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110912143412.htm#.UHCHk1f9lWg.blogger

|access-date=2019-08-13}} an approach that is much more achievable.{{cite journal|title=Transformation of concentrated sunlight into laser radiation on small parabolic concentrators |journal=Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy|volume=3|issue=5|pages=053102|doi=10.1063/1.3643267|year=2011|last1=Payziyev|first1=Sh. D.|last2=Bakhramov|first2=S. A.|last3=Kasimov|first3=A. K.}}

• Magnesium injection cycle{{Cite journal

|title=Solar-Powered Laser

|journal=MIT Technology Review

|author=Duncan Graham-Rowe

|date=September 19, 2007

|url=http://www.technologyreview.com/news/408698/solar-powered-laser/

}}{{#tag:ref|Applied Physics Letters (2007), cited in }}

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