Open AccessWireless optical power transfer system by spatial wavelength division and distributed laser cavity resonance
Author(s) -
Jae-Yeong Lim,
Tariq Shamim Khwaja,
Job Ha
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.00a924
Subject(s) - optics , laser linewidth , optical power , transmitter , beam splitter , laser , physics , optoelectronics , materials science , channel (broadcasting) , telecommunications , computer science
A novel wireless optical power transfer (WOPT) system using diverging angular dispersion and spatially distributed laser cavity resonance is proposed. In the transmitter, a diffraction grating spatially disperses the broadband light from a semiconductor optical amplifier. Receiving units spread across a wide field of view are embedded with retroreflecting beam splitters that reflect the incident beam back to the transmitter, thereby completing multiple resonant cavities. Retroreflectors enable a user-friendly alignment and tap power from the resonating cavity, supplying optical power. We demonstrate an automatic safety mechanism that instantly ceases the cavity resonance should any vulnerable organ break the transmitter-receiver line of sight. The results indicate that a single-channel WOPT system can provide a resonating average power of 17.2 mW (receiving power of 1.7 mW to the photodetector) over a distance of 1 m with a channel linewidth of 0.035 nm. For a proof-of-principle experiment, seven receiver units were successfully demonstrated to supply optical power. With careful retroreflector design and field-of-view optimization, the potential of our scheme can be further exploited toward commercial deployment.