Phys.org January 25, 2022
Turning the incoherent energy supply provided by the Sun into a coherent laser beam would overcome several of the practical limitations inherent in using sunlight as a source of clean energy. An international team of researchers (France, USA – University of Notre Dame, Italy, Mexico) proposed and designed a bio-inspired blueprint for a novel type of laser with the aim of upgrading unconcentrated natural sunlight into a coherent laser beam. They proposed a laser medium comprised of molecular aggregates inspired by the architecture of natural photosynthetic complexes which exhibit a very large internal efficiency in harvesting photons from a power source as dilute as natural sunlight. In their hybrid structure the photosynthetic complexes in purple bacteria (Rhodobacter sphaeroides) surround a suitably engineered molecular dimer composed of two strongly coupled chromophores. They showed that if pumped by the surrounding photosynthetic complex the core dimer structure can reach population inversion and reach the lasing threshold under natural sunlight…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Pictorial representation of the design principle presented in the text. A photosynthetic antenna complex collects energy from sunlight… Credit: 2021 New J. Phys. 23 103015