JPH022191A - Gas laser oscillator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To repeat discharge at a very fast speed without shifting to arc discharge by opposing one of electrode pieces to the other main electrode through a discharge space between electrode pieces, by separating the discharge space from the other section of a space inside an airtight container and rotating it together with a rotor to circulate gas laser medium between the discharge space. CONSTITUTION:When main discharge is ignited between a cathode 4 and one electrode piece 9 of anode 7, discharge product and impulse wave are produced between a discharge space 12. The discharge space 12 is separated from the other section of a space inside a closed container 1 by a pair of blade members 11 and a wall member 13. Therefore, main discharge is ignited with the anode 7 rotating, and gas laser medium which contains discharge product and impulse wave of the discharge space 12 is eliminated out of the discharge space 12 together with the blade member 11 at the time of main discharge. At the same time, gas laser medium inside the closed container 1 which does not contain discharge product or impact wave is fed into the discharge space 11 by the other blade member 11, and the succeeding main discharge is ignited. Main discharge can be repeated at a very fast speed in this way.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a gallaser oscillation device of a type in which a laser medium excited by discharge of a main electrode is forcibly circulated.

(Prior Art) In gas laser devices such as C02 lasers and excimer lasers, a pair of main electrodes are spaced apart and face each other.

There is a device in which a gas laser medium is forcibly circulated in a closed container arranged in a closed container, and the gas laser medium can be repeatedly excited by the main electrode at high speed.

According to this configuration, most of the discharge products generated by the discharge are removed from the discharge space between the pair of main electrodes by the flow of the gas laser medium, but some of the discharge products are removed from the main electrodes. It is unavoidable that the liquid remains near the surface. Therefore, if the discharge is repeated at high speed, the discharge products remaining in the discharge space will gradually increase, which causes the discharge between the pair of main electrodes to transition to arc discharge, and the laser beam oscillation becomes impossible. In other words, the pulse repetition of laser light cannot be performed at high speed.

Furthermore, if the discharge is repeated at high speed, the next discharge will occur with the shock wave generated by the discharge remaining in the discharge space. Since it could not be removed quickly, the discharge could not be repeated at high speed.

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a gas laser oscillation system capable of quickly removing discharge products and shock waves generated in the discharge space due to discharge from the discharge space. The goal is to provide equipment.

[Structure of the Invention (Means and Effects for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a closed container in which a gas laser medium is sealed, and a gas laser medium arranged in a spaced-apart manner and facing each other in the closed container. At least one pair of main electrodes, one of the main electrodes includes a rotating body that is rotationally driven, a plurality of electrode pieces provided at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, and one of the main electrodes. The rotating body is rotated by sealing the discharge space in a state in which one of the electrode pieces protruding between the electrode pieces on the outer peripheral surface of the electrode and the other main electrode face each other across the discharge space. Accordingly, discharge products and shock waves generated in the discharge space due to the discharge are removed from the discharge space by the blade member.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The gas laser oscillation device shown in the drawings includes a closed container 1 in which a gas laser medium is sealed. An opening 2 is formed in the peripheral wall of this closed container 1, and this opening 2 is closed by a mounting plate 3. A cathode 4 is attached to the lower surface of the mounting plate 3 facing into the closed container 1. This cathode 4
is formed into a hollow shape by a wire mesh 5, and a preliminary ionization electrode 6 is arranged inside the hollow shape.

An anode 7 is disposed within the sealed container 1 at a portion facing the cathode 4 . The anode 7 includes a columnar rotating body 8 having a hexagonal cross section, electrode pieces 9 each having a semicircular cross section fixed to every other side of the rotating body 8, and electrode pieces 9 of the rotating body 8. four blade members 11 that protrude radially outward with one end fixed to the side surface to which the blade member 11 is not attached;
It is composed of.

When one electrode piece 9 faces the cathode 4, the space between them, that is, the discharge space 12, is divided into other spaces inside the closed container 1 by a pair of blade members 11 located on both sides of the one electrode piece 9. It is separated from the part of Note that wall members 13 are disposed on both sides of the cathode 4 to face the tips of the blade members 11 with a slight gap therebetween, thereby improving the separation of the discharge space 12 by the pair of blade members 11. It is measured.

Inside the sealed container 1 is a heat exchanger 1 for cooling the gas laser medium removed from the discharge space 12, as described later.
4 is provided. Further, one axial end of the rotating body 8 is airtightly protruded from one end surface of the closed container 1 to the outside,
A drive motor (not shown) is connected to the protruding end. The rotating body 8 is rotationally driven by its drive motor.

The cathode 4 is connected to the negative side of a high voltage power supply 15 via a peaking capacitor 16.

The rotating body 8 of the anode 7 is connected to the positive side of the high voltage power supply 15. Furthermore, the above-mentioned pre-ionization type is used.

Next, the operation of the gas laser oscillation device having the above configuration will be explained. First, the high voltage electricity [15] is turned on, and a drive motor (not shown) is operated to rotate the rotating body 8 of the anode 7 in the direction of the arrow. When the high-voltage power supply 15 is turned on, corona discharge occurs between the pre-ionization electrode 6 and the cathode 4, whereby the discharge space 12 between the cathode 4 and the anode 7 is pre-ionized.

In this way, when the preliminary ionization of the discharge space 12 is sufficiently performed and the cathode 4 and one of the plurality of electrode pieces 9 of the anode 7 face each other, a main discharge is ignited between them.
The gas laser medium in the discharge space 12 is excited. The laser light thus generated is amplified by a total reflection mirror and a partial reflection mirror (not shown) disposed on both axial end faces of the sealed container 1, and is oscillated from the partial reflection mirror.

When the main discharge is ignited between the cathode 4 and one electrode piece 9 of the anode 7 in this way, discharge products and shock waves are generated in the discharge space 12. As the main discharge is ignited while the anode 7 rotates around the discharge space 12, the gas laser medium containing discharge products and shock waves in the discharge space 12 is separated from the discharge space 12 during the main discharge. Feather member 1
1 and will be removed from the discharge space 12. At the same time, the discharge space 11 is
The gas laser medium in the sealed container 1, which does not contain discharge products or shock waves, is fed into the chamber 1, and the next main discharge is ignited.

Therefore, discharge products and shock waves generated in the discharge space 12 can be quickly and reliably eliminated by the blade members 11, and fresh gas laser medium is supplied to the discharge space 12 by the other blade members 11, so that the main discharge can speed up repetitive operations.

It should be noted that the discharge products removed from the discharge space 12 are captured by a filter (not shown) provided in the heat exchanger 14, etc., and hardly ever flow into the discharge space 12 again.

FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the number of main discharge repetitions and the laser output in the conventional method and the present invention. The vane member rotates in the same figure to circulate the gas laser medium in the discharge space. Therefore, discharge products and shock waves generated by the main discharge between the pair of main electrodes can be generated in the rotating blade member of one of the main electrodes.

Although the cathode is provided with four electrode pieces in the above embodiment, the number is not limited, and the larger the number, the higher the number of repetitions of the main discharge can be.

Also, although the anode was set to a ground potential, it is also a hot topic that the cathode side may be grounded.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention includes a rotating body in which one of a pair of main electrodes is rotationally driven, a plurality of electrode pieces provided at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction of this rotating body, and these electrodes. One of the electrode pieces and the other main electrode protruding between each piece are opposed to each other with a discharge space in between, separating the discharge space from other parts of the space in the sealed container, and the rotating body together with

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the entire apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between the number of discharge repetitions and the laser output between the conventional apparatus and the present invention. 1... Airtight container, 4... Cathode, 7... Anode, 8...
Rotating body, 9... electrode piece, 11... vane member, 12.
...discharge space. Applicant Kozo Iizuka, Director General of the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology

Claims (1)

[Claims] It comprises a sealed container in which a gas laser medium is sealed, and at least a pair of main electrodes disposed in the sealed container in a spaced-apart manner, and one of the main electrodes is connected to a rotating body that is driven to rotate, and a rotating body that is driven to rotate. A plurality of electrode pieces are provided on the outer circumferential surface of the body at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction, and one electrode piece and the other main electrode are provided protruding between each of the electrode pieces on the outer circumferential surface of the rotary body. and a vane member that faces each other with a space in between, separates the discharge space from other parts of the space in the sealed container, and rotates together with the rotating body to circulate the gas laser medium in the discharge space. A gas laser oscillation device characterized by: