GB2392719A - Cooling jacket for a flashlamp - Google Patents
Cooling jacket for a flashlamp Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2392719A GB2392719A GB0220424A GB0220424A GB2392719A GB 2392719 A GB2392719 A GB 2392719A GB 0220424 A GB0220424 A GB 0220424A GB 0220424 A GB0220424 A GB 0220424A GB 2392719 A GB2392719 A GB 2392719A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- cooling jacket
- flashlamp
- lamp
- arc
- arc lamp
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
- 238000001816 cooling Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 31
- 238000005530 etching Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 17
- 238000005299 abrasion Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 7
- 230000005855 radiation Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 7
- 238000005488 sandblasting Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 4
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims description 10
- KRHYYFGTRYWZRS-UHFFFAOYSA-N Fluorane Chemical compound F KRHYYFGTRYWZRS-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 6
- 239000003795 chemical substances by application Substances 0.000 claims description 4
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 claims description 4
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 238000007788 roughening Methods 0.000 claims 2
- QGZKDVFQNNGYKY-UHFFFAOYSA-O Ammonium Chemical compound [NH4+] QGZKDVFQNNGYKY-UHFFFAOYSA-O 0.000 claims 1
- 239000004576 sand Substances 0.000 claims 1
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 abstract description 5
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 abstract description 4
- 239000010453 quartz Substances 0.000 description 6
- VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N silicon dioxide Inorganic materials O=[Si]=O VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 6
- 239000002826 coolant Substances 0.000 description 3
- MIMUSZHMZBJBPO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 6-methoxy-8-nitroquinoline Chemical compound N1=CC=CC2=CC(OC)=CC([N+]([O-])=O)=C21 MIMUSZHMZBJBPO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- IJGRMHOSHXDMSA-UHFFFAOYSA-N Atomic nitrogen Chemical compound N#N IJGRMHOSHXDMSA-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- PXHVJJICTQNCMI-UHFFFAOYSA-N Nickel Chemical compound [Ni] PXHVJJICTQNCMI-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 2
- 150000002500 ions Chemical class 0.000 description 2
- RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N Copper Chemical compound [Cu] RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- KRHYYFGTRYWZRS-UHFFFAOYSA-M Fluoride anion Chemical compound [F-] KRHYYFGTRYWZRS-UHFFFAOYSA-M 0.000 description 1
- 244000137852 Petrea volubilis Species 0.000 description 1
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229910052802 copper Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000010949 copper Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052738 indium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- APFVFJFRJDLVQX-UHFFFAOYSA-N indium atom Chemical compound [In] APFVFJFRJDLVQX-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000011261 inert gas Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052743 krypton Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- DNNSSWSSYDEUBZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N krypton atom Chemical compound [Kr] DNNSSWSSYDEUBZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000007788 liquid Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005259 measurement Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052759 nickel Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910052757 nitrogen Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 238000005086 pumping Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229910052761 rare earth metal Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910000679 solder Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 230000003595 spectral effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- WFKWXMTUELFFGS-UHFFFAOYSA-N tungsten Chemical compound [W] WFKWXMTUELFFGS-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229910052721 tungsten Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000010937 tungsten Substances 0.000 description 1
- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N water Substances O XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229910052724 xenon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- FHNFHKCVQCLJFQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N xenon atom Chemical compound [Xe] FHNFHKCVQCLJFQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
- H01J61/70—Lamps with low-pressure unconstricted discharge having a cold pressure < 400 Torr
- H01J61/80—Lamps suitable only for intermittent operation, e.g. flash lamp
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
- H01J61/02—Details
- H01J61/52—Cooling arrangements; Heating arrangements; Means for circulating gas or vapour within the discharge space
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J61/00—Gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps
- H01J61/84—Lamps with discharge constricted by high pressure
- H01J61/90—Lamps suitable only for intermittent operation, e.g. flash lamp
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
- H01S3/00—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
- H01S3/09—Processes or apparatus for excitation, e.g. pumping
- H01S3/091—Processes or apparatus for excitation, e.g. pumping using optical pumping
- H01S3/0915—Processes or apparatus for excitation, e.g. pumping using optical pumping by incoherent light
- H01S3/092—Processes or apparatus for excitation, e.g. pumping using optical pumping by incoherent light of flash lamp
Landscapes
- Lasers (AREA)
Abstract
A cooling jacket for a flashlamp or arc lamp has an outer surface roughened by an etching agent, sandblasting or manual abrasion. This reduces the fraction of radiation generated by a lamp having a cooling jacket and undergoing total internal reflection at the surface, thus increasing the useful optical output power of the lamp. A flashlamp- or arc-lamp pumped laser having a lamp with such a cooling jacket shows improved overall electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency and higher output energy for a given pump energy.
Description
23927 1 9
COOLING JACKET FOR A FLASHLAMP OR ARC LAMP
The invention relates to cooling jackets for flashlamps and arc lamps, to flashlamps and arc lamps per se, and to lasers pumped by flashlamps and arc 5 lamps which have cooling jackets. The invention also relates to methods of fabricating cooling jackets.
Flashlamps, arc lamps and similar lamps are used, inter alla, for pumping lasers.
Various optical sources have been employed in the past to pump lasers, however 10 today only flashlamps, arc lamps and laser-diodes are of practical interest.
Although laser-diodes have the benefits of robustness, electrical efficiency, longevity and good spectral overlap with ions typically used in solid-state lasers (e.g. ions of rare-earth elements), flashlamps and arc lamps remain useful, particularly in high output power lasers.
A flashlamp is an elongate device comprising a linear or helical quartz tube filled with an inert gas (e.g. xenon or krypton at a pressure of 200 - 700 tort at room temperature) and designed such that, in operation, a plasma fills most of the tube. Electrodes are commonly sealed into the body of the flashlamp by one of 20 two techniques. In the first technique, a tungsten electrode is sealed to the quartz tube with highly-doped borsilica glass. A copper rod is used in the second technique; one end of the rod is brazed to an electrode and the other is welded to a copperplated nickel cup. Indium solder is used to seal the cup to an end of the quartz tube. Arc lamps are of similar construction.
In the case of a flashlamp or arc lamp with a high average optical output power, cooling of the quartz tube and electrode-seal areas is provided either by a gaseous coolant such as forced air or pressurised nitrogen, or by a liquid coolant such as water, a water-alcohol mixture or a CFC. The coolant is circulated in an outer 5 cooling jacket of the flashlamp or arc lamp. In many designs, the outer cooling jacket is reusable after the lamp itself has reached the end of it useful life. In other designs the cooling jacket is inextricably comprised in the lamp.
A problem with flashlamps and arc lamps having cooling jackets is that a 10 significant fraction of radiation produced by the lamp undergoes total internal reflection at the outer surface of the cooling jacket and is thus trapped rather than made available for use. For example, in a flashlampor arc lamp-pumped laser, trapped radiation is not delivered to the laser's gain medium. Up to 40% of the radiation generated by a flashlamp or arc lamp may be lost by this mechanism. In 15 addition to reducing overall efficiency, such loss results in less effective cooling of the lamp. In the case of flashlamp- and arc lamp-pumped lasers, overall electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency is limited by this effect.
An object of the present invention is to mitigate these problems.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, this object is achieved by a cooling jacket for a flashlamp or arc lamp characterized in that an outer surface of the jacket has a roughness sufficient to substantially reduce total internal reflection of radiation at said surface.
The roughened surface reduces total internal reflection so that only 15 to 20% of the radiation generated by a flashlamp or arc lamp within the jacket remains trapped therein, thus increasing the optical output power available for use.
5 A second aspect of the invention provides a method of fabricating a cooling jacket of the invention, the method comprising the step of applying an etching agent to the outer surface of a cooling jacket. Conveniently, etching may be carried out using an etching creme comprising ammonium bifluoride or hydrofluoric acid.
Alternatively, sandblasting or manual abrasion may be employed. Sand paper or 10 glass paper may be used to effect manual abrasion.
A flashlamp or arc lamp comprising an outer cooling jacket according to the first aspect of the invention is provided by third aspect of the invention. Such a lamp has an improved electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency compared to a 15 flashlamp or arc lamp of the prior art. A fourth aspect of the invention provides a
flashlamp- or arc lamp-pumped laser comprising a flashlamp or arc lamp according to the third aspect of the invention. Such a laser has a higher output energy and a higher electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency than prior art
flashlamp- or arc lamp-pumped lasers.
Although cooling jackets typically envelop the whole of the quartz tube of a flashlamp or arc lamp, the invention may also be applied to a cooling jacket which only partially surrounds a flashlamp or arc lamp.
25 Embodiments of the invention are described below by way of example only.
The invention may be put into practice by etching the outer surface of a quartz cooling jacket of a flashlamp with ammonium bifluoride-based etching creme, for example Etchall@, as follows. Open ends of the jacket are stoppered using fluoride-resistant stoppers (e.g. SubasealR' stoppers) to prevent etching of the 5 inner surface of the jacket. A plastic measuring cylinder is filled with etching creme and the jacket completely immersed therein for 24 hours (although the exact time is not critical). A cover plate is placed on top of the cylinder to ensure that the jacket remains fully immersed in the etching creme.
10 Etching may also be carried out using hydrofluoric acid (HE) or HFbased products such as HE paste, by sandblasting or by manual abrasion. Sand-paper or glass-
paper is useful in the latter case.
The cooling tubes of the flashlamps of a Cocoa-Tinn Mark II flashlamppumped 15 dye laser were etched with Etchall in order to obtain increased output power from the laser. Measurements of pulse energy were made before and after etching, the arrangement of the laser otherwise being the same in both cases.
The mean pulse energy of optical pulses output from the laser before etching was 2.21]. After etching, the mean pulse energy was 2.90], corresponding to an 20 increase in mean pulse energy due to etching of 31%. A one-sided two-sample t-
test resulted in a specific probability value less than 0.001, giving overwhelming evidence that that energy of the pulses was increased.
Claims (10)
1. A cooling jacket for a flashlamp or arc lamp characterized in that an outer surface of the jacket has a roughness sufficient to substantially reduce total 5 internal reflection of radiation at said surface.
2. A flashlamp or arc lamp comprising a cooling jacket according to claim 1.
3. A laser comprising a flashlamp or an arc lamp according to claim 2.
4. A method of fabricating the cooling jacket of claim 1, the method comprising the step of applying an etching agent to the outer surface of a cooling jacket.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the etching agent comprises ammonium 15 bifluoride.
6. The method of claim 4 wherein the etching agent comprises hydrofluoric acid.
7. A method of fabricating the cooling jacket of claim 1 comprising the step of 20 roughening the outer surface of a cooling jacket by sandblasting.
8. A method of fabricating the cooling jacket of claim comprising the step of roughening the outer surface of a cooling jacket by manual abrasion.
9. The method of claim 9 wherein the manual abrasion is carried out using glass paper.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the manual abrasion is carried out using sand 5 paper.
Priority Applications (3)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB0220424A GB2392719A (en) | 2002-09-03 | 2002-09-03 | Cooling jacket for a flashlamp |
| PCT/GB2003/003644 WO2004023613A1 (en) | 2002-09-03 | 2003-08-20 | Cooling jacket for a flashlamp or arc lamp |
| AU2003255830A AU2003255830A1 (en) | 2002-09-03 | 2003-08-20 | Cooling jacket for a flashlamp or arc lamp |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB0220424A GB2392719A (en) | 2002-09-03 | 2002-09-03 | Cooling jacket for a flashlamp |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB0220424D0 GB0220424D0 (en) | 2002-10-09 |
| GB2392719A true GB2392719A (en) | 2004-03-10 |
Family
ID=9943399
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB0220424A Withdrawn GB2392719A (en) | 2002-09-03 | 2002-09-03 | Cooling jacket for a flashlamp |
Country Status (3)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| AU (1) | AU2003255830A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2392719A (en) |
| WO (1) | WO2004023613A1 (en) |
Citations (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3569754A (en) * | 1968-06-19 | 1971-03-09 | Dyonics Inc | Flash source |
| US4207541A (en) * | 1978-02-21 | 1980-06-10 | General Electric Company | Cooling jacket for laser flash lamps |
| EP0105230A2 (en) * | 1982-09-30 | 1984-04-11 | General Electric Company | Triggering and cooling apparatus for laser flashlamps |
Family Cites Families (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL172502A (en) * | 1971-04-30 | |||
| GB1334009A (en) * | 1971-05-19 | 1973-10-17 | Gen Electric Co Ltd | Laser devices |
| JPS6336586A (en) * | 1986-07-28 | 1988-02-17 | ゼネラル・エレクトリック・カンパニイ | Laser device and method of pumping laser |
-
2002
- 2002-09-03 GB GB0220424A patent/GB2392719A/en not_active Withdrawn
-
2003
- 2003-08-20 AU AU2003255830A patent/AU2003255830A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2003-08-20 WO PCT/GB2003/003644 patent/WO2004023613A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
Patent Citations (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3569754A (en) * | 1968-06-19 | 1971-03-09 | Dyonics Inc | Flash source |
| US4207541A (en) * | 1978-02-21 | 1980-06-10 | General Electric Company | Cooling jacket for laser flash lamps |
| EP0105230A2 (en) * | 1982-09-30 | 1984-04-11 | General Electric Company | Triggering and cooling apparatus for laser flashlamps |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| AU2003255830A1 (en) | 2004-03-29 |
| GB0220424D0 (en) | 2002-10-09 |
| WO2004023613A1 (en) | 2004-03-18 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAP | Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1) |