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Comparison of Square and Radial Geometries for High Intensity Laser Power Beaming ReceiversIn an effort to further advance a realizable form of wireless power transmission (WPT), high intensity laser power beaming (HILPB) has been developed for both space and terrestrial applications. Unique optical-to-electrical receivers are employed with near infrared (IR-A) continuous-wave (CW) semiconductor lasers to experimentally investigate the HILPB system. In this paper, parasitic feedback, uneven illumination and the implications of receiver array geometries are considered and experimental hardware results for HILPB are presented. The TEM00 Gaussian energy profile of the laser beam presents a challenge to the effectiveness of the receiver to perform efficient photoelectric conversion, due to the resulting non-uniform illumination of the photovoltaic cell arrays. In this investigation, the geometry of the receiver is considered as a technique to tailor the receiver design to accommodate the Gaussian beam profile, and in doing so it is demonstrated that such a methodology is successful in generating bulk receiver output power levels reaching 25 W from 7.2 sq cm of photovoltaic cells. These results are scalable, and may be realized by implementing receiver arraying and utilizing higher power source lasers to achieve a 1.0 sq m receiver capable of generating over 30 kW of electrical power. This type of system would enable long range optical "refueling" of electric platforms, such as MUAV s, airships, robotic exploration missions and provide power to spacecraft platforms which may utilize it to drive electric means of propulsion. In addition, a smaller HILPB receiver aperture size could be utilized to establish a robust optical communications link within environments containing high levels of background radiance, to achieve high signal to noise ratios.
Document ID
20120007095
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Technical Memorandum (TM)
Authors
Raible, Daniel E.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Fast, Brian R.
(Rockwell Automation, Inc. Cleveland, OH, United States)
Dinca, Dragos
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Nayfeh, Taysir H.
(Cleveland State Univ. Cleveland, OH, United States)
Jalics, Andrew K.
(QinetiQ North America Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 2012
Publication Information
ISBN: 978-1-4244-9686-0
Subject Category
Electronics And Electrical Engineering
Report/Patent Number
NASA/TM-2012-217255
E-18010
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Conference on Space Optical Systems and Applications (ICSOS)
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: May 11, 2011
End Date: May 13, 2011
Sponsors: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 439432.07.01.17.02
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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