A path to practical Solar Pumped Lasers via Radiative Energy Transfer.

ABSTRACT: The optical conversion of incoherent solar radiation into a bright, coherent laser beam enables the application of nonlinear optics to solar energy conversion and storage. Here, we present an architecture for solar pumped lasers that uses a luminescent solar concentrator to decouple the conventional trade-off between solar absorption efficiency and the mode volume of the optical gain material. We report a 750-μm-thick Nd(3+)-doped YAG planar waveguide sensitized by a luminescent CdSe/CdZnS (core/shell) colloidal nanocrystal, yielding a peak cascade energy transfer of 14%, a broad spectral response in the visible portion of the solar spectrum, and an equivalent quasi-CW solar lasing threshold of 23 W-cm(-2), or approximately 230 suns. The efficient coupling of incoherent, spectrally broad sunlight in small gain volumes should allow the generation of coherent laser light from intensities of less than 100 suns.

SUBMITTER: Reusswig PD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4593010 | biostudies-other | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other