JPH02191385A - Laser oscillator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent shift to arc discharge due to oxygen by controlling the time of supplying a high tension pulse to a discharge electrode on the basis of concentration detection signals with respect to an arbitrary component of a laser medium gas. CONSTITUTION:A control means 7 to control the time in the case where a power source means 4 supplies a high tension pulse to discharge electrodes 2a, and 2b is provided on the basis of concentration detection signals with respect to an arbitrary component of a gas which is filled in a discharge tube 1. The concentration of the arbitrary component of the gas (oxygen) is detected and, if a detected value exceeds a concentration at which shift to arc discharge is performed, the supply of a high tension pulse for generation of discharge from the power source means 4 to the discharge electrodes 2a and 2b stops. Shift from glow discharge to arc discharge by oxygen is thus prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a laser oscillation device using gas as a laser medium.

(Conventional technology) The prior art will be explained using FIG. 2.

The gas laser oscillator shown in Fig. 2 confines gas in a discharge tube at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, and emits laser light perpendicular to the discharge direction.
Exclted Atosophrfe press
ure) It is a carbon dioxide laser oscillation device. This device has a discharge tube 1 that confines gas at atmospheric pressure or higher,
Discharge electrodes 2a and 2b that perform discharge within the discharge tube 1 are provided to face each other. Further, a pair of mirrors 3a and 3b are provided to face each other perpendicularly to the discharge direction, and further includes a power source 4 that applies a DC high voltage between the discharge electrodes 2a and 2b.

In the device configured in this way, a high voltage pulse is applied from the power source 4 between the discharge electrodes 2a and 2b to generate a glow discharge, thereby exciting the gas in the discharge tube 1 and oscillating a laser beam.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional laser oscillation device described above, carbon dioxide, which is a gas component, is decomposed into oxygen due to air leak into the discharge tube or glow discharge. As a result, when oxygen is mixed into the gas serving as the laser medium, glow discharge shifts to arc discharge depending on the amount of oxygen mixed in.
Normal laser oscillation is not performed. Furthermore, this arc discharge increases the peak voltage applied between the discharge electrodes,
There was a problem that the discharge electrode was damaged.

Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention provides a laser oscillation device that detects the oxygen concentration within the discharge tube and prevents transition to arc discharge due to oxygen.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a discharge tube filled with a laser medium gas, a discharge electrode that performs a discharge to excite this gas, A resonator that amplifies the laser light emitted by this discharge excitation, a power supply means that supplies a predetermined discharge power to the discharge electrode, and a concentration detection means that detects the concentration of an arbitrary component of the gas sealed in the discharge tube. A laser oscillation device is provided that includes a control means for controlling the timing at which the power supply means supplies a high-voltage pulse for generating discharge to the discharge electrode based on a detection signal from the concentration detection means.

(Function) In the device configured in this way, the concentration of an arbitrary component of the gas (for example, oxygen) is detected, and if the detected value is higher than the concentration that causes arc discharge, the power is sent from the power source to the discharge electrode. The supply of high voltage pulses for the generation of discharge is stopped,
Prevents transition from glow discharge to arc discharge and enables stable laser oscillation at all times. This also prevents damage to the discharge electrode due to arc discharge.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the same parts as in the prior art are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the laser oscillation device of this embodiment is provided with a concentration detector 6 in the discharge tube 1 for detecting the concentration of oxygen, which is one of the gas components as a laser medium, and also includes:
Based on the detection result from the concentration detector 6, a timing control circuit 7 is provided which controls the timing of supplying a high voltage pulse as a trigger for discharge from the power source 4 to the discharge electrodes 2a, 2b.

In the laser oscillation device configured in this way, the detection signal from the concentration detector 6 is constantly input to the timing control circuit 7, and within the timing control circuit 7, this detection signal and a preset arc discharge The detected signal is compared with a reference signal corresponding to the oxygen concentration generated, and if the detected signal is larger than the reference signal, the application of high voltage pulses to the power source 4 is stopped to prevent the generation of discharge.

In this embodiment, timing control is performed by detecting oxygen concentration, but in other embodiments, timing control may be performed by detecting the concentration of another component such as carbon dioxide instead of oxygen as the component to be detected.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the concentration of any component in the gas is detected and the timing of discharge generation is controlled, the discharge is performed as a glow discharge, and transition to arc discharge can be prevented. .

Therefore, stable laser oscillation is possible at all times, and
Damage to the discharge type electrode due to arc discharge can also be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional TEA carbon dioxide laser oscillation device. 6...Concentration detector, 7...Timing control circuit agent Patent attorney Nori Chika Ken Yudo [Effects of the invention]

Claims (1)

[Claims] A discharge tube filled with a laser medium gas, a discharge electrode that performs a discharge to excite the laser medium gas, a resonator that amplifies the laser light emitted by the discharge excitation, and a predetermined discharge power is supplied to the discharge electrode. a concentration detection means for detecting the concentration of an arbitrary component of the laser medium gas sealed in the discharge tube; and a concentration detection means for detecting the concentration of an arbitrary component of the laser medium gas sealed in the discharge tube, and the power supply means causing discharge to the discharge electrode based on a detection signal from the concentration detection means. 1. A laser oscillation device comprising: control means for controlling the timing of supplying a high-voltage pulse to be generated.