Madrid. Sunlight, one of the most abundant renewable energy sources on the planet, could be used to power lasers, according to research from Heriot-Watt University.
A laser powered by sunlight instead of fossil fuels could be used to power chemical processes in energy-intensive fertilizer production, the scientists said.
Conventional lasers run on electrical power from a battery or from the mains. Even if electricity from renewable generation is used, additional infrastructure is required and the energy is invariably lost along the way.
Erik Gauger of the Heriot-Watt Institute for Photonics and Quantum Sciences described how a new laser powered by sunlight might work in a study published in New Journal of Physics. He worked with a team of international colleagues and they drew inspiration from nature for the new system.
Model
Gauger stated: “Sunlight is abundant, but since it is diluted and variable, it is difficult to collect, store and use it.
“Nature has already found a way to do this through photosynthesis, when plants convert sunlight, water and carbon into food and energy. We have designed a bio-inspired model for a new system that can convert that light into a laser beam.”
Other scientists have already begun work on solar-powered lasers, but those that have been demonstrated so far require elaborate systems and high levels of cooling.
Gauger and colleagues from Italy and Mexico turned to purple bacteria, a group of photosynthetic organisms found in ponds and lakes, as inspiration for their new system.
“Purple bacteria have ring-shaped antennae with a reaction center in the middle that allows them to convert sunlight into chemical energy. If we can find a way to remove the reaction centers and replace them with a much simpler structure, we could use a bunch of those modified photosynthetic structures to turn sunlight into a laser beam at ambient conditions,” he explained.
“Specifically, our design would be self-contained and would not require an external power supply or large and complicated surrounding lenses. It would be light, portable and with completely natural organic components. It would constitute the definitive source of green energy. We have all these ingredients available, we just need to find the best way to play Lego molecular and assemble the structures”, he stated.
Gauger indicated that the end result could be a low-energy laser, but still useful for a variety of applications.
#Scientists #work #system #power #lasers #sunlight #produce #energy