Progetto Bilaterale tra National Research Centre of Egypt e CNR ISTEC. Preparation and Characterization of Solid State laser Materials and its Application in Solar Pumped lasers. Report of the second year activity

Bilateral project between Italian CNR and Egyptian NRC. There is a need for renewable and clean sources of energy because of environmental concerns arising from the use of fossil fuels, in addition to the near depletion of this fuel. Moreover, the growing world population and growing global demand due to the needs of modern society causes further concerns. The Sun is a source of renewable energy, which can be converted directly or indirectly into other forms of energy, for example, converting sunlight directly into the laser radiation by using solar-pumped laser systems. The project targets the production of laser beams directly from the Sun, concentrating the solar energy on transparent chromium- and neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Cr:Nd: YAG). This beam of Laser can be used to convert magnesium oxide into magnsgium which is used as eco-freiendly fuel. The project comprises three main phases: manufacturing of transparent Cr:Nd: YAG, study of the optical properties of these bodies and optimization of most suitable one, and finally pumping to the laser beam by using these gain media and Fresnel lenses as solar concentrators.