A significant advancement in the Ce:Nd:YAG solar laser performance using a side-pumping configuration is reported. A solar laser head was composed of a double-stage semispherical lens and a trapezoidal-shaped pumping cavity, which coupled and redistributed the concentrated solar radiation from the focal zone of a parabolic mirror into a laser rod. The laser output performance of a 4.0-mm diameter, 35-mm length Ce:Nd:YAG laser rod was tested and compared with that from a Nd:YAG rod with the same dimensions. At an incoming solar power of 600 W, the Ce:Nd:YAG solar laser achieved 23.6-W / m2 collection efficiency, 4.4% slope efficiency, and 2.8% solar-to-laser power conversion efficiency, which are 1.57, 1.47, and 1.56 times, respectively, higher than the ones obtained with the Nd:YAG rod. The Ce:Nd:YAG side-pumped solar laser has also 1.39 and 1.15 times more collection efficiency and solar-to-laser power conversion efficiency, respectively, than the previous record by Nd:YAG side-pumped solar laser. We demonstrate the great potential of the Ce:Nd:YAG ceramic rod as a gain medium for side-pumped solar lasers.

中文翻译：

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Ce：Nd：YAG侧面泵浦太阳能激光器

据报道，使用侧面泵浦配置的Ce：Nd：YAG太阳激光器的性能有了显着提高。太阳激光头由一个双级半球形透镜和一个梯形泵浦腔组成，该泵浦腔将聚集的太阳辐射从抛物面镜的聚焦区耦合并重新分布到激光棒中。测试了直径为4.0毫米，长度为35毫米的Ce：Nd：YAG激光棒的激光输出性能，并将其与相同尺寸的Nd：YAG棒的激光输出性能进行了比较。在600 W的入射太阳能下，Ce：Nd：YAG太阳激光的收集效率为23.6W / m2，斜率效率为4.4％，太阳能到激光的功率转换效率为2.8％，分别为1.57、1.47和分别是Nd：YAG棒的1.56倍。Ce：Nd：YAG侧面泵浦太阳激光器也具有1.39和1。收集效率和太阳能到激光的功率转换效率分别比Nd：YAG侧面泵浦太阳能激光器的记录高15倍。我们展示了Ce：Nd：YAG陶瓷棒作为侧面泵浦太阳能激光器的增益介质的巨大潜力。