Taku Saiki

Demonstrated fossil-fuel-free energy cycle using magnesium and laser

The authors propose an energy cycle based on a renewable fuel. Magnesium is chosen as an energy carrier and is combusted with water to retrieve energy using many power devices. MgO, the combustion residue, is reduced back to Mg by laser radiation generated from solar and other renewable energy sources. They have achieved an energy recovery efficiency of 42.5% for converting MgO to magnesium, using a laser. Combined with a demonstrated 38% efficiency for converting an artificial sunlight source (metal halide lamp) into laser output energy indicates that the proposed energy cycle is already in a feasible range for practical use.

Total-reflection active-mirror laser with cryogenic Yb:YAG ceramics.

An efficient high-power laser operation has been demonstrated by using a cryogenic Yb:YAG composite ceramic with a total-reflection active-mirror arrangement. The composite ceramic, which had no high-reflection coating and was cooled with liquid nitrogen directly, showed four-level operation even at 67 kW/cm(3) of high pump density. A 273 W cw output power was obtained with 65% optical efficiency and 72% slope efficiency.

Nd/Cr:YAG Ceramic Rod Laser Pumped Using Arc-Metal-Halide-Lamp

We observed laser oscillations of rod-type Nd/Cr:YAG ceramics experimentally pumped using an arc-metal-halide lamp having a similar spectrum to solar light. An optical–optical conversion efficiency of 43% was obtained by chromium-ion codoping of Nd:YAG with an efficiency of 26%.

Effective Fluorescence Lifetime and Stimulated Emission Cross-Section of Nd/Cr:YAG Ceramics under CW Lamplight Pumping

Remarkable improvements in the lifetime of the Nd upper level and in the effective stimulated emission cross-section of Nd/Cr:YAG ceramics have been theoretically and experimentally studied. Until recently, it had been thought that the long energy transition time from Cr ions to Nd ions of Nd/Cr:YAG adversely affects laser action, degrading optical–optical conversion efficiency under CW and flash lamp pumping. However, current research showed that high-efficiency energy transition has a positive effect on laser action. The effective lifetime is increased from 0.23 to 1.1 ms and the emission cross-section is effectively increased to three times for that of the conventional Nd:YAG. A small signal gain is significantly improved, and the saturation power density is reduced to 1/10 that of the Nd:YAG for the same pumping power density. A CW laser light generated in a laser diode (LD)-pumped 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser oscillator was amplified, and the measured output power was saturated. The output laser power calculated using theoretical saturation power density was consistent with the experimental results.

Zig-zag active-mirror laser with cryogenic Yb 3+ :YAG/YAG composite ceramics

We report on a novel amplifier configuration concept for a 10 kW laser system using a zig-zag optical path based on a cryogenic Yb:YAG Total-Reflection Active-Mirror (TRAM) laser. The laser material is a compact composite ceramic, in which three Yb:YAG TRAMs are combined in series to increase the output power. Output powers of up to 214 W with a slope efficiency of 63% have been demonstrated for CW operation, even at a quite low pump intensity of less than 170 W/cm2. Further scaling could achieve output powers of more than 10 kW.

Highly Efficient Lasing Action of Nd3+- and Cr3+-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Ceramics Based on Phonon-Assisted Cross-Relaxation Using Solar Light Source

We constructed a theory to explain the mechanism of laser generation with a high optical–optical conversion efficiency for Nd3+- and Cr3+-doped yttrium aluminum ceramics when sunlight or lamplight sources are used for pumping. As a result, a unique mechanism of laser action was found where the solar or lamp-light power could be converted to laser power with a high efficiency close to 80%, which has not previously been observed. The high conversion efficiency was not only considered to be based on one-to-one photon conversion but on two-photon excitation by a single photon with phonon assistance. Thus, the mechanism of lasing action should include a process where thermal energy is converted to photon energy. The theoretical results we obtained were consistent with those of the experiments.

INCREASE IN EFFECTIVE FLUORESCENCE LIFETIME BY CROSS-RELAXATION EFFECT DEPENDING ON TEMPERATURE OF Nd/Cr:YAG CERAMIC USING WHITE-LIGHT PUMP SOURCE

An increase in the effective fluorescence lifetime of Nd/Cr:YAG ceramics with temperature dependence was observed. The dependence on the doped Cr ion density for the increased effective fluorescence lifetime was also investigated. The effective lifetime of fluorescence in the ceramics increased from 1.1 to 1.8 ms owing to the phonon-assist cross-relaxation induced by the excited Cr ions, which is commonly observed in Tm:YAG or glass lasers. The increase in effective fluorescence lifetime can be explained by spontaneous emissions occurring from the excited Nd ions and excitations of the Nd ions from the lower level to the upper level at the same time. Additionally, an experiment for laser oscillations with the temperature of the laser material controlled was performed, and a remarkable increase of the output laser energy owing to cross-relaxation was observed when the temperature increased. The obtained maximum laser energy output was near twice that without cross-relaxation. The ceramics are considered promising lamp- or solar-pumped solid-laser materials owing to the efficient laser action based on this cross-relaxation.

Hydrogen Production Using Reduced-Iron Nanoparticles by Laser Ablation in Liquids

A recyclable energy cycle using a pulsed laser and base-metal nanoparticles is proposed. In this energy cycle, iron nanoparticles reduced from iron oxides by laser ablation in liquid are used for hydrogen generation. The laser energy can be stored in the base-metal nanoparticles as the difference between the chemical energies of iron oxide and iron. According to the results of an experiment on hydrogen production using the reduced iron nanoparticles, the reaction efficiency of the hydrogen generation at a temperature of 673 K was more than 94% for the ideal amount of generated hydrogen.

Nd3+- and Cr3+-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Ceramic Pulse Laser Using Cr4+-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Crystal Passive Q-Switch

A passively Q-switched Nd3+-and Cr3+-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) ceramic laser using Cr4+:YAG crystal as a Q-switch element is reported for the first time. Unique temporal waveforms of the output laser pulses were observed. A temporal waveform of a Q-switched laser pulse was compared with one in a free-running pulse. Laser pulses of 130–300 ns duration were generated. A maximum output laser energy of 1.1 J and an average peak power of 0.1 MW were obtained for multiple Q-switched pulses by a single shot, and a maximum output laser energy of 80 mJ was obtained for a single pulse. The evaluated maximum peak power was 0.6 MW as determined from measured pulse energy and duration. The effective saturation fluence and maximum stored energy were lower than those of Nd:YAG. However, a high peak power can be obtained using an output coupler with a low reflectivity owing to the high gain as in the case of Nd:YAG. The threshold of the Nd/Cr:YAG ceramic laser oscillator is reduced to less than 10% of that of a Nd:YAG oscillator. It was determined by calculation that the output laser energy of the Nd/Cr:YAG ceramic laser was close to 4 times that of Nd:YAG.

Thermal Effect of Cryogenic Yb:YAG Total-Reflection Active-Mirror Laser

We report total-reflection active-mirror laser experiments by using a cryogenic Yb:YAG composite ceramic. The composite ceramic has no high reflection coating on the bottom surface, and is cooled with liquid nitrogen directly. We obtained 273 W output power with optical efficiency of 65% and slope efficiency of 72% against the absorbed pump power. The laser power and optical efficiency will be improved more when the pump power increases further. To investigate thermal effects of the laser material in more detail, we have measured the thermal lens focal length and the temperature of Yb:YAG. We observed thermal lensing effect of f ~ 2000 mm, and the maximum temperature of 150 K for 400 μm-thick Yb:YAG sample. We have also studied the theoretical analysis of thermal distribution in the composite ceramic.