Immersion graded index optics for passive solar concentrators

Vaidya, Nina; Solgaard, Olav

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2015.7355657

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 2 publications

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“…Our prior demonstrations of these graded-index passive solar concentrators were based on fabrication of polymer and glass concentrators 23,24 that required elaborate machining. 3D printing simplifies the fabrication and enables tileable input surfaces and flexible array design (Fig.…”

Section: Solar Concentrator Arraysmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D printed optics with nanometer scale surface roughness

Vaidya

Solgaard

2018

Microsyst Nanoeng

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Complex optical devices including aspherical focusing mirrors, solar concentrator arrays, and immersion lenses were 3D printed using commercial technology and experimentally demonstrated by evaluating surface roughness and shape. The as-printed surfaces had surface roughness on the order of tens of microns. To improve this unacceptable surface quality for creating optics, a polymer smoothing technique was developed. Atomic force microscopy and optical profilometry showed that the smoothing technique reduced the surface roughness to a few nanometers, consistent with the requirements of high-quality optics, while tests of optical functionality demonstrated that the overall shapes were maintained so that near theoretically predicted operation was achieved. The optical surface smoothing technique is a promising approach towards using 3D printing as a flexible tool for prototyping and fabrication of miniaturized high-quality optics.

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Section: Solar Concentrator Arraysmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D printed optics with nanometer scale surface roughness

Vaidya

Solgaard

2018

Microsyst Nanoeng

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Immersion graded index optics: theory, design, and prototypes

Vaidya

Solgaard

2022

Microsyst Nanoeng

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Immersion optics enable creation of systems with improved optical concentration and coupling by taking advantage of the fact that the luminance of light is proportional to the square of the refractive index in a lossless optical system. Immersion graded index optical concentrators, that do not need to track the source, are described in terms of theory, simulations, and experiments. We introduce a generalized design guide equation which follows the Pareto function and can be used to create various immersion graded index optics depending on the application requirements of concentration, refractive index, height, and efficiency. We present glass and polymer fabrication techniques for creating broadband transparent graded index materials with large refractive index ranges, (refractive index ratio)2 of ~2, going many fold beyond what is seen in nature or the optics industry. The prototypes demonstrate 3x optical concentration with over 90% efficiency. We report via functional prototypes that graded-index-lens concentrators perform close to the theoretical maximum limit and we introduce simple, inexpensive, design-flexible, and scalable fabrication techniques for their implementation.

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Immersion graded index optics for passive solar concentrators

Cited by 2 publications

References 2 publications

3D printed optics with nanometer scale surface roughness

3D printed optics with nanometer scale surface roughness

Immersion graded index optics: theory, design, and prototypes

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