JPH01132185A - Pulse power-supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a device whose efficiency is high, whose characteristic regarding reliability, life and output is sufficient and which can be made small- sized by a method wherein only a capacitor is connected in parallel at a posterior stage of a saturable inductor in a pulse-width compression circuit and both ends of the capacitor are used as output ends. CONSTITUTION:In a pulse power-supply device where a pulse-width compression circuit composed of a saturable inductor SI connected in series to a charging power supply PS and of capacitors C1-C3 connected in parallel to the charging power supply PS and a switching means used to connect the charging power supply PS to the pulse-width compression circuit intermittently are provided and which is used to repeatedly excite a laser load LD connected to output ends of said pulse-width compression circuit, only a capacitor C is connected in parallel at a posterior stage of the saturable inductor SI in the pulse-width compression circuit and both ends of the capacitor C are used as output ends 2. For example, an amorphous metal is used for a core of said saturable inductor SI, and a pulse discharge excimer laser is used for said laser load LD.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a pulse power supply device incorporating a magnetic switch, and particularly relates to a high-speed power supply device such as an excimer laser, a fluorine molecular laser, a carbon dioxide laser, a mercury halide laser, a metal vapor laser, etc. The present invention relates to a power supply device used for repeated excitation.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the primary side circuit of a capacitive transfer type laser excitation power source has a thyratron or a spark gap as a switch. As for this kind of thing, it is Utsukai 60-961
The one described in Publication No. 82 is known, and the one described in No. 4
The configuration is as shown in the figure.

This is because a magnetizing current for saturating the magnetic core of the saturable inductor SI flows after the saturable inductor S in the final stage, so a capacitor CA is installed after the saturable inductor in the pulse width compression circuit in the final stage. A bypass inductor LB is connected in parallel, and both ends thereof are used as output ends.

A laser load LD is inserted in parallel to this output end. PS is a power supply, and SCR is a switching element.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the conventional method described above, the saturable inductor S
Since the bypass inductor LB is inserted in parallel to the laser load LD in order to saturate A square type with hysteresis characteristics is required.

This is because if a magnetic material with low magnetic permeability when unsaturated is used, the magnetizing current must be increased, but this current flows into the ground via the bypass inductor LB and is therefore not supplied to the laser load LD. This is because the power current will decrease.

However, even if a saturable inductor SI having excellent characteristics is used, there is a problem in that the repetition frequency of the pulsed power source is kept low by the bypass inductor LB, and the efficiency is also reduced.

In addition, sufficient performance cannot be obtained in terms of reliability, lifespan, and output, and the number of parts increases, making the device itself large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned matters, and has high efficiency and sufficient characteristics in terms of reliability, life, and output.
A technical object of the present invention is to provide a pulse power supply device that can also be miniaturized.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a charging power source P
a saturable inductor SI connected in series with S;
A pulse width compression circuit including a capacitor connected in parallel to the charging power source PS, and a switch means for intermittently connecting the charging power source to this pulse width compression circuit, and an output terminal of the pulse width compression circuit. Connected laser load L
A pulse power supply device for repeatedly exciting D had the following configuration.

That is, the saturable inductor SI in the pulse width compression circuit
Only a capacitor C was connected in parallel at the latter stage, and both ends of this capacitor C were used as output terminals 2.

The saturable inductor SI may have a core made of amorphous metal.

For example, a pulse discharge excimer laser can be used as the laser load LD.

[Effect]

Since no bypass inductor is connected to the output end of the power supply, there is no power loss in this part, improving efficiency and providing excellent characteristics in terms of reliability, lifespan, and output.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 3.

A thyristor SCR as a switching means is connected in parallel to the output end of the high voltage charging power supply PS, and the output end of the high voltage charging power supply PS is connected to the primary side of a step-up pulse transformer T via an energy storage capacitor Co. has been done.

On the secondary side of the pulse transformer T, a capacitor CI and a saturable inductor SII are connected in parallel and series, and similarly, a capacitor C2 and a saturable inductor S12, a capacitor C3 and a saturable inductor SI3 are connected in parallel and series, respectively. ing.

Each saturable inductor uses an amorphous metal as a magnetic material, and these saturable inductors and capacitors constitute a pulse width compression circuit.

Then, only a capacitor C is connected in parallel after the saturable inductor SI3, and both ends of this capacitor C are connected to the output terminal 2.
It's Toshide.

A laser load LD is connected in parallel to the output end 2 of the pulse discharge excimer laser excitation power source 1 configured as described above. The laser load LD has a structural inductance (stray inductance) of the laser load, which is shown in FIG. 1 as an inductance LH virtually connected between the capacitor C and the laser load LD. Note that the core of the saturable inductor may be formed of an amorphous metal, and in this case, the characteristics of the saturable inductor can be improved.

An example of operation will be explained below. First, the energy storage capacitor CO is charged to 3KV by the high-voltage charging power supply PS, and when a trigger is input to the gate G of the thyristor SCR, the thyristor 5Cr becomes conductive, and the charge of the energy storage capacitor CO is 1 KV of the pulse transformer T. Then, a pulse voltage of 30KV to 40KV is generated on the secondary side of the pulse transformer T, and the capacitor Ct is charged to that voltage.At this time, the current pulse width (II)
was 9 μs.

In this state, the saturable inductor Sll is in an unsaturated state, and since the inductance is large, almost no current (I2) flows, and only the capacitor CI is in a charged state.

After a predetermined period of time, the saturable inductor SII becomes saturated, and the inductance rapidly decreases, so that the charge of the capacitor Ct flows into the capacitor C2, and the capacitor C2 enters a charged state.

Here, the saturation point of the saturable inductor Sll is the capacitor C
It is set so that the voltage of I is at the maximum point, and the inductance of the saturable inductor SII at the time of saturation is smaller than the inductance on the secondary side of the pulse transformer T.

By setting in this manner, the current pulse width (If) of 9 μs could be compressed to the current pulse width (I2) of 1.6 μs.

Next, in the magnetic pulse compression circuit consisting of capacitor C2, saturable inductor S2, and capacitor C3, 0.4
The current pulse width (I3) is μs, and the capacitor C3,
The magnetic pulse compression circuit using the saturable inductor 5t(3) and the capacitor C has a current pulse width of 0.1 μs (I4
).

The value of each capacitor C1, C2, C3 is 13°6nF.
Furthermore, each saturable inductor SI l
, SI2. The value of SI3 is set so that Sll>SI2>SI3.

Here, considering the operation when capacitor C is not provided, a discharge loop is formed of capacitor C3 - saturable inductor 5I3 - inductance LH - laser load LD, and passes through saturable inductor SI2 to capacitor C
The energy charged in No. 3 will drive the laser load LD. In this case, the saturable inductor SI3 at saturation
Since the value of is large compared to the value of inductance LH, the current pulse width during discharging becomes very long, making it impossible to obtain a large current pulse.

On the other hand, when only capacitor C is inserted as shown in Fig. 1, the electrical energy accumulated in capacitor C3 is transferred to capacitor C, and then transferred to the loop formed by capacitor C → inductance LH → laser load LD. It can be discharged.

Therefore, it is possible to form a discharge circuit that does not involve the saturable inductor SI3, the pulse width can be significantly shortened, and a large current pulse can be obtained.

The value of the capacitor C is preferably set so that C3≧C, but the optimum value is preferably determined depending on the characteristics of the laser load LD and the type of laser medium.

Note that the switching element is a thyristor SCR.
S, [, FET, MOS-
It goes without saying that even if it is replaced with PET, GTO, etc., it will operate in the same way.

Hereinafter, specific experimental examples will be explained.

The circuit shown in Figure 1 is a three-stage pulse width compression circuit, and in this circuit, a laser load LD whose laser discharge tube is filled with a 1.8 atmosphere KrF laser mixed gas of P2/Kr/He is used. I experimented using it.

First, a description will be given of an experiment in which a bypass inductor LB used in a conventional circuit was inserted in parallel with a laser load LD.

When the value of the capacitor C is On F and the value of the bypass inductor LB is lμH, a peak power of 90 MW is injected into the laser discharge. At this time, the discharge current was 10 KA, the current pulse width was 60 ns, and the SKrF excimer laser output was 4 mJ.

Further, when the value of the capacitor C was 9nF and the value of the bypass inductor LB was 1μH, a peak power of 240MW was injected. At this time, the discharge current was 23KA, and the current pulse width was 25n.
The KrF excimer laser output was 20 mJ.

When an experiment was conducted with both bypass inductor LB and capacitor C not connected, no laser output was obtained.

Next, as shown in Figure 1, the bypass inductor LB was removed and the value of the capacitor C was set to 9nF.
Discharge current is 26KA, current pulse width is 25ns, peak power is 300MW, KrP excimer laser output is 32m
It became J.

From the above experiments, it is clear that according to the circuit shown in FIG. 1, an output 1.5 times or more can be obtained compared to the conventional circuit.

Here, the loss in the conventional circuit can be expressed as follows.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, when the current flowing through the bypass inductor LB, the discharge current, and the laser intensity are expressed on the time axis, the magnetizing current flowing through the bypass inductor LB continues to flow considerably until the laser discharge start time TI. . Therefore, the integral value of the current flowing through the bypass inductor LB from TO to TI becomes a loss (reactive current), and this continues until the laser discharge start time T2. However, by inserting a capacitor C in place of the bypass inductor LB as in the present invention, the loss is eliminated and the efficiency can be significantly improved.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment in which the pulse width compression circuit is provided in one stage and a thyratron TS is used as the switching means. The principle of operation is the same as that explained in FIG. 1, so a description thereof will be omitted.

The power supply device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be used not only as an excitation main discharge of an excimer laser, but also as a power supply for pre-ionization discharge and espionage discharge, which are different from this.

Further, the magnetic material used for the saturable inductor may be a magnetic material different from amorphous metal. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the pulsed laser may be a pulsed gas laser different from an excimer laser, or a metal vapor laser.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, since a bypass inductor is not required, there is no loss of current to be supplied to the laser load, and efficiency and laser output can be significantly improved.

Furthermore, since the number of parts is reduced, reliability can be improved, the lifespan can be extended, and the equipment can be made smaller.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show embodiments of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a basic circuit diagram, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing another embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a graph diagram showing experimental results. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a conventional pulse power supply device. 1...Pulse discharge excimer laser excitation power supply, 2...
Output end, LD...Laser load, S[1, SI2. SI3...Saturable inductor, Co
, C, CI, C2, C3-capacitor, SCR...
Thyristor as a switching means. Utility Model Registration Applicant Mitsui Petrochemical Industries Co., Ltd.
Spontaneous) Indication of 18 cases 1988 Patent Application No. 2908
83 No. 2, Title of the invention: Pulse power supply device 3, Relationship to each case to be amended Patent applicant address: 3-2-5 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Name (588) Oui Petrochemical Industry Co., Ltd. 4; Agent: Lot 31Il, Floriculture Building, IO 3-chome, Kanda Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo! 5. Subject of correction Drawing 6, lli Correct contents (1) Figure 4 of the drawing is corrected as shown in the attached sheet. (The letters rscrtJ have been changed to "switch." Also, see Figure 4.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A pulse width compression circuit consisting of a saturable inductor connected in series to the charging power source and a capacitor connected in parallel to the charging power source, and the charging power source being connected to the pulse width compression circuit intermittently. In the pulse power supply device for repeatedly discharging and exciting a laser load connected to the output end of the pulse width compression circuit, the pulse width compression circuit is provided with only a capacitor after the saturable inductor. A pulse power supply device characterized in that the capacitors are connected in parallel and both ends of the capacitors are used as the output terminals. (2) Claim 1, characterized in that the core of the saturable inductor is formed of an amorphous metal.
Pulse power supply device as described in section. (3) The pulse power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the laser load is a pulse discharge excimer laser.