SOLAR-PUMPED LASER AND ITS 2ND-HARMONIC GENERATION

Solar radiation concentrated by using a large solar collector was used to optically excite a Nd: YAG laser medium and was successfully converted into coherent laser light. The maximum laser output power attained 60 W in multi-mode. This is the highest power so far reported on a solar-pumped laser. Q-switched pulse operation of the cw solar-pumped Nd:YAG laser was performed by inserting an acousto-optic deflector into the laser cavity. Output pulses of peak power greater than 100 kW and FWHM of 100 ns were obtained at a repetition rate of 1 kHz. Using the pulsed solar-pumped Nd:YAG laser, second harmonics were generated at wavelength of 530 nm by a nonlinear KTP crystal.