Monte Carlo simulation of a transversely excited solar-pumped fiber laser
Abstract
A Monte Carlo ray-tracing simulation was developed for a transversely excited solar-pumped fiber laser without focusing optics. To make this possible, the fiber is immersed in a liquid sensitizer and sandwiched between highly reflective mirrors. The top reflector is dichroic to transmit solar radiation but reflect fluorescence to confine photons that match the absorption band of the active fiber. Simulation was used to evaluate the validity of the concept and optimize device performance. For comparison with the calculations, preliminary experiments were conducted by illuminating a 30 cm aperture, laser module with a solar simulator. The observed gains were in good agreement with the calculations for various conditions, such as sensitizer concentration and mirror reflectivity. Finally, we show that the predicted output power reaches 29 mW when the fiber length is optimized, and it will be enhanced to 150 mW with 0.21% solar-to-laser efficiency under the assumption of a reabsorption-free sensitizer.
- Publication:
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Japanese Journal of Applied Physics
- Pub Date:
- November 2019
- DOI:
- 10.7567/1347-4065/ab4a93
- Bibcode:
- 2019JaJAP..58k2006E