Seven-Grooved-Rod, Side-Pumping Concept for Highly Efficient TEM00-Mode Solar Laser Emission through Fresnel Lenses

Costa, Hugo; Liang, Dawei; Almeida, Joana; Catela, Miguel; Garcia, Dário; Tibúrcio, Bruno D.; Vistas, Cláudia R.

doi:10.3390/photonics10060620

Open AccessArticle

Seven-Grooved-Rod, Side-Pumping Concept for Highly Efficient TEM₀₀-Mode Solar Laser Emission through Fresnel Lenses

by

Hugo Costa

,

Dawei Liang

^*

,

Joana Almeida

,

Miguel Catela

,

Dário Garcia

,

Bruno D. Tibúrcio

and

Cláudia R. Vistas

Centre of Physics and Technological Research, Physics Department, NOVA School of Science and Technology, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Photonics 2023, 10(6), 620; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10060620

Submission received: 27 March 2023 / Revised: 22 May 2023 / Accepted: 24 May 2023 / Published: 26 May 2023

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lasers and Dynamic of Systems)

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Abstract

Low-cost, lightweight, and easily available Fresnel lenses are a more alluring choice for solar laser power production, when compared to the costly and complex heliostat-parabolic mirror systems. Therefore, a seven-rod solar laser head was designed and numerically studied to enhance the efficiency in TEM₀₀-mode laser power production, employing six Fresnel lenses with 10 m² total collection area for collection and concentration of sunlight. Six folding mirrors redirected the solar rays towards the laser head, composed of six fused silica aspheric lenses and rectangular compound parabolic concentrators paired together for further concentration, and a cylindrical cavity, in which seven Nd:YAG rods were mounted and side-pumped. With conventional rods, total TEM₀₀-mode laser power reached 139.89 W, which is equivalent to 13.99 W/m² collection efficiency and 1.47% solar-to-TEM₀₀-mode laser power conversion efficiency. More importantly, by implementing rods with grooved sidewalls, the total laser power was increased to 153.29 W, corresponding to 15.33 W/m² collection and 1.61% conversion efficiencies. The side-pumping configuration and the good thermal performance may ensure that the seven-grooved-rod system has better scalability than other previously proposed schemes.

Keywords: Fresnel lens; grooved rod; Nd:YAG; solar laser; TEM₀₀-mode

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MDPI and ACS Style

Costa, H.; Liang, D.; Almeida, J.; Catela, M.; Garcia, D.; Tibúrcio, B.D.; Vistas, C.R. Seven-Grooved-Rod, Side-Pumping Concept for Highly Efficient TEM₀₀-Mode Solar Laser Emission through Fresnel Lenses. Photonics 2023, 10, 620. https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10060620

AMA Style

Costa H, Liang D, Almeida J, Catela M, Garcia D, Tibúrcio BD, Vistas CR. Seven-Grooved-Rod, Side-Pumping Concept for Highly Efficient TEM₀₀-Mode Solar Laser Emission through Fresnel Lenses. Photonics. 2023; 10(6):620. https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10060620

Chicago/Turabian Style

Costa, Hugo, Dawei Liang, Joana Almeida, Miguel Catela, Dário Garcia, Bruno D. Tibúrcio, and Cláudia R. Vistas. 2023. "Seven-Grooved-Rod, Side-Pumping Concept for Highly Efficient TEM₀₀-Mode Solar Laser Emission through Fresnel Lenses" Photonics 10, no. 6: 620. https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10060620

APA Style

Costa, H., Liang, D., Almeida, J., Catela, M., Garcia, D., Tibúrcio, B. D., & Vistas, C. R. (2023). Seven-Grooved-Rod, Side-Pumping Concept for Highly Efficient TEM₀₀-Mode Solar Laser Emission through Fresnel Lenses. Photonics, 10(6), 620. https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10060620

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Seven-Grooved-Rod, Side-Pumping Concept for Highly Efficient TEM₀₀-Mode Solar Laser Emission through Fresnel Lenses

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