Solar-pumped Nd:Cr:GSGG parallel array laser

Abstract

A compact, parallel array of three Nd:Cr:GSGG laser rods is used to construct a quasi-cw laser. The array is pumped by concentrated solar light and is mounted in a single solar concentrator. The three laser rods use a common pair of laser mirrors to define the optical resonator. The three laser beams are not coherently coupled in these experiments. The simplicity of the design, and its reasonable stability in terms of vibration and optical misalignment, suggest that the design may be scalable for higher power.