JPH0126119Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a gas laser oscillator that is widely used in various fields such as medicine, processing, and measurement.

Conventional configurations and their problems There are two types of gas laser oscillators: internal resonator types and external resonator types.

As is well known, an external cavity type gas laser oscillator consists of a discharge tube section that has a thin tube that generates a high-density plasma that serves as a laser medium, and two planar or spherical plates that have a high reflectance for the wavelength of the laser oscillation. It consists of a resonator section consisting of a mirror. In order to generate laser oscillation, the two mirrors in the resonator section must be adjusted perpendicularly to the central axis of the discharge tube section so that the tangential planes of their reflective surfaces face each other with excellent parallelism. .

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a conventional external cavity type gas laser oscillator, in which there is a laser tube 1, both ends of which are sealed by Brieuster windows 2, 3. On the other hand, the laser tube 1 is fixed to an outer tube 5 by a support 4, and the outer circumferential wall of the outer tube 5 is extended along the axis of the laser tube 1, extending outward from the position where the Breustar windows 2 and 3 are located. The diameter of each end is reduced, and a metal mirror holder 6, which is easily plastically deformable and has a thinner central portion and a constriction, is attached to each end. This aligns the mirror by buckling and plastically deforming the thin portion. Furthermore, mirrors 8 and 9 are fixed to each of the mirror holders 6 so as to face each other with the laser tube 1 interposed therebetween in the axial direction. In a laser oscillator with such a configuration, the mirror holder 6 has a simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost. However, during mirror alignment, the centers of the mirrors 8 and 9 do not match the axis of the laser tube 1, and the distance between the mirrors changes, causing the laser The drawback was that the output became unstable.

Furthermore, since this structure utilizes plastic deformation of the mirror support, it is prone to breakage due to repeated fatigue, and has the disadvantage that if a problem occurs with either the discharge tube or the mirror, the entire mirror must be replaced.

Purpose of the Invention In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional art, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas laser oscillator that facilitates mirror replacement and allows stable laser oscillation without changing the distance between the mirrors.

Structure of the Invention The present invention achieves the above object, and includes a laser tube having a Brieuster window, an outer enclosure provided at both ends of the laser tube, a mirror holder attached to the outer enclosure, and a laser tube having a Brieuster window. a mirror held by a mirror holder, the mirror holder comprising:
An external holder part is rotatably attached to the fixed part via a first pivot axis, and is rotatable to the external holder part via a second pivot axis provided perpendicular to the direction of the first pivot axis. The present invention provides a gas laser oscillator comprising at least an internal holder portion attached to the gas laser oscillator.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a laser oscillator showing an embodiment of the present invention. The laser tube 1 is fixed to an outer tube 10 by a support 4, and the outer circumferential wall of the outer tube 10 extends along the axis of the laser tube 1 and extends outward from the position where the Brewster windows 2 and 3 are located. A terminal end is formed at one end, and a mirror holder support plate 11 is fixed to this terminal end. A guide groove (not shown) is provided in this mirror holder support plate 11, and the mirror holder 7 is fixed thereto. 2 and 3 are Brieusta windows.

In this embodiment, as will be described in detail later, a gimbal mechanism is used in the mirror holder 7 to facilitate alignment adjustment between the laser tube 1 and the mirrors 8 and 9, and the center of rotation is set to the mirror surface so that the distance between the mirrors does not change. This structure suppresses fluctuations in laser output.

In addition, the mirror holder 7 is attached to the support plate 11 of the outer tube 10.
In order to prevent the mirror holder 7 from shifting its position when installed, a guide portion is provided on the mirror holder 7, and a guide groove is provided on the support plate 11, so that the mirror holder 7 can be installed easily and with good reproducibility. .

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the mirror holder, in which a is a plan view and b is a sectional view.

This mirror holder is composed of an inner holder part 13 and an outer holder part 15, and the mirror 12 is pressed and fixed to the inner holder part 13 by a hollow set screw 14. This inner holder part 13
A pivot bearing is formed on the horizontal line on the surface of the mirror 12, and the mirror 12 has a pivot bearing that can be rotated around a shaft 18 fixed to the outer holder part 15, and is pressed against the adjustment screw 19 by the force of a compression spring 21. ing. Similarly, a pivot bearing is formed in the vertical direction in the outer holder part 15, and the fixing plate 1
It has a structure that is rotatable around a shaft 17 fixed to 6. Since the rotational axes of the pivot shafts 17 and 18 are arranged so as to coincide with the surface of the mirror 12, if the optical axis becomes misaligned, the optical axis can be easily adjusted by rotating the adjustment screws 19 and 20. , and at this time there is no variation between mirrors.

Furthermore, the mirror can be easily replaced by removing the set screw 14. Furthermore, the fixing plate 16
There is a guide 16' on the mirror holder support plate 11.
Since the position is determined along a guide groove (not shown) installed in the mirror holder, the reproducibility of the mounting position is good even when replacing the mirror holder.

Effects of the Invention In summary, the present invention includes a laser tube having a Brieuster window, an outer enclosure provided at both ends of the laser tube, a mirror holder attached to the outer enclosure, and a mirror held by the mirror holder. an external holder part, the mirror holder being rotatably attached to the fixing part via the first pivot axis, and a second mirror provided perpendicularly to the first pivot axis direction. and an internal holder part rotatably attached to the external holder part via a pivot axis, the gas laser oscillator comprising at least an internal holder part that is rotatably attached to the external holder part, each of which can be independently adjusted by an adjustment screw, and can be adjusted independently by a skilled person. Even those who are not familiar with the system can easily adjust the optical axis. Moreover, due to the force of the compression spring, stable laser oscillation can be performed without shifting during or after adjustment due to vibration or impact.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional external cavity type gas laser oscillator, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a laser oscillator showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3a is a plan view of the mirror holder section, and Fig. 3b is a sectional view of the laser oscillator. FIG. 1... Laser tube, 2, 3... Brieusta window,
4... Support body, 7... Mirror holder, 8, 9, 1
2...Mirror, 10...Outer tube, 11...Mirror holder support plate, 13...Inner holder part, 14...
Set screw, 15... Outer holder part, 16... Fixed plate, 17, 18... Pivot shaft, 19, 20...
Adjustment screw, 21...compression spring.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A laser tube having a Brieusta window, an outer enclosure provided at both ends of the laser tube, a mirror holder attached to the outer enclosure, and a mirror held by the mirror holder, the mirror The holder includes an external holder part rotatably attached to the fixed part via a first pivot axis, and a second pivot axis provided perpendicularly to the first pivot axis direction. an internal holder portion rotatably attached to the gas laser oscillator, wherein the centers of the first and second pivot axes are in the direction of an extended surface of the mirror surface on the laser tube side.