JPH0514534Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an improved gas laser discharge tube.

(Conventional technology) In gas laser equipment, gas is processed by direct current glow discharge,
Alternatively, a silent discharge (high frequency discharge) may be used to excite the laser medium, but with regard to the electrode structure for glow discharge, efforts have been made to ensure that as much current can flow as possible. Therefore, in the device,
The drawback was that it was not possible to stably output weak laser light.

Therefore, the present inventors previously proposed an electrode structure that allows stable discharge over a wide range from weak output to strong output (see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-22621). That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the cathode 11 of the discharge electrode is cylindrical, has a slanted part 13 at the end on the side of the anode 12, and has a needle-like part 14 at the tip of the slanted part. It consists of a structure. According to this configuration, in the microelectrode region, the current is received at the tip of the needle-like portion 14, and as the current increases, the discharge region sequentially expands to the base, and as the current becomes larger, the discharge region gradually spreads from the oblique portion 13. It will spread over the entire electrode. As a result, laser light ranging from very low output to high output can be stably emitted.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above electrode structure, the discharge concentrates on the needle-shaped portion 14, so sputtering occurs due to the discharge, causing significant damage to the electrode. adheres to the inner wall of the discharge tube,
As a result, electrical discharge occurs through the spatter products,
There is a risk that the discharge will become unstable.

The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a gas laser discharge tube having long-term discharge stability.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In the gas laser discharge tube of the present invention, a spatial region containing an anode and a spatial region containing a cathode are separated by a partition wall made of high and low antibodies having an opening so as to partially communicate with each other. and the opening faces the cathode surface,
The structure is such that the side near the anode is extremely narrow, and the side closer to the anode gradually becomes wider.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention, where 1 is an anode and 2 is a cathode. 3 is anode 1
This is a partition wall that separates a spatial region 4 in which the cathode 2 is contained from a spatial region 5 in which the cathode 2 is contained. The partition wall 3 is provided with an opening 6 that communicates both the spatial regions 4 and 5 with each other. The opening 6 faces the cathode, and its shape is narrower on the side closer to the anode and gradually wider as it gets farther away. For example, it may be a conical slit 6a as shown in FIG. 2, or a cylindrical diagonally cut surface 6b as shown in FIG.

(Function) According to the above configuration, in the microelectrode region, discharge occurs at the tip of the slit 6a or at the anode side end A of the diagonally cut surface 6b of the cylinder, and as the current increases, the discharge occurs on the wide side of the opening. In the large current region, discharge occurs in the entire opening B.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and parts with the same names as those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals. Here, a cylindrical cathode 2 is used so as to surround an opening (obliquely cut surface of a cylinder) 6 of a partition wall 3 that separates a spatial region 4 containing the anode 1 from a spatial region 5 containing the cathode 2.

As described in the (effect) section, the discharge operation in this embodiment configured as described above gradually spreads from the narrow part of the anode side end of the opening 6 to the wide part as the discharge current increases. be. Therefore,
Extremely stable discharge can be obtained from a micro current range to a large current range, and since the cathode is always exposed to a wide area, the spatter resistance is dramatically improved compared to conventional ones.

5 and 6 respectively show other embodiments of the present invention. In the figure, the cathode 2 has a cylindrical shape with a bottom.

In this way, by arranging the open end with the cathode, even if the cathode material is sputtered, the spatter product has a high probability of returning to the cathode itself, compared to the conventional method. It has the characteristic that the amount of spatter products adhering to the inner wall of the discharge tube other than the cathode can be reduced.

The opening should be extremely narrow on the anode side and widen as it moves away from the anode, with a slit as shown in Figure 7a, and an even smaller slit at the end of the diagonally cut surface as shown in Figure 7b. By making the shape more stable, discharge in the micro current region can be stabilized.

(Effects of the invention) As explained above, according to the invention, stable discharge can be obtained over a wide range from weak laser output to strong output, and in particular,
It is possible to stably obtain laser output at minute outputs, which was difficult with conventional discharge tube structures. Furthermore, damage to the electrodes is small, and reliability as a gas laser discharge tube can be improved and its life can be extended.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention,
2 and 3 are diagrams showing the relationship between the cathode and the opening of the partition, respectively, FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the shape of the opening, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional example. 1... Anode, 2... Cathode, 3... Partition wall, 4, 5
... Spatial area, 6... Opening.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A spatial region containing an anode and a spatial region containing a cathode are separated by a partition wall made of high and low antibodies having an opening so as to communicate with each other, and the opening is
A conical slit that faces the cathode surface and is extremely narrow on the side closer to the anode and gradually widens as it gets farther away, or a shape in which an even smaller slit is added to the diagonally cut surface of a cylinder on the side closer to the anode. A gas laser discharge tube characterized by: (2) The gas laser discharge tube according to claim 1, wherein the cathode has a cylindrical shape with a bottom, and an opening in a partition wall is inserted into the cathode.