Study on Energy Converter for Power Transmission by using Laser Beam

Abstract

Fundamental studies on power transmission by using laser beam have been performed. The experimental results on a plasma direct converter (PDC) from laser energy to electricity are reported. We found that the conversion efficiency of laser energy to plasma varies with target materials and reaches the highest value of 70% for a NaCl target, and the conversion efficiency from energy of expanding plasma to electricity shows no variation with target materials. It is found that the conversion efficiency from laser energy to electricity is about 16% when a NaCl target is used.