JPH079399Y2 - Ion laser tube - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a gas laser tube. More specifically, the present invention relates to a novel configuration of an ion laser tube having a ceramic thin tube capable of obtaining a high output laser output by discharging a large current.

As is well known in the prior art, an ion laser that performs laser oscillation by energy transition of gas such as ionized argon or krypton needs to have high ion density in order to achieve high output. It is necessary to pass a large current exceeding 20 A in the thin tube made of material. However, the oscillation efficiency of the laser is extremely low, and most of the supplied power is dissipated as heat energy. Therefore, the material and structure of the capillaries are heat resistant, resistant to ion bombardment,
There are various restrictions in terms of thermal conductivity.

Ceramics, for example, beryllia (BeO), which is excellent in thermal conductivity and electrical insulation, is generally used as a capillary material for that purpose.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view schematically showing the structure of a conventional laser tube provided with a ceramic laser capillary tube.

In conventional ion laser tubes, ceramic discs
It is formed by alternately stacking 13 and hollow ceramic pipes 14. That is, the ceramic disk 13 is provided with a central discharge hole and a gas return hole around the central discharge hole, and a laser thin tube is formed by arranging the ceramic disks 13 so that the discharge holes are arranged in a straight line. . Also,
The hollow ceramic pipe 14 is arranged between the ceramics 13 in order to maintain the continuity of the gas return hole. Further, the ceramic disk 13 and the ceramic pipe 14 are airtightly joined to each other to form a vacuum envelope together with the laser capillary.

An anode 8 and a cathode 9 are arranged at both ends of the laser thin tube thus formed. The anode 8 and the cathode 9 are bonded to a borosilicate glass 5 containing KV and containing them, and further sealed with metal stems 11 and 11 '. A Brewster valve 7 in which a Brewster window 6 made of quartz is sealed is welded to the metal stems 11 and 11 ′, respectively, and an anode 8 and a cathode 9 are provided.
Electrodes 10 and 10 'connected to the metal stem 11 and 11' are hermetically penetrated through the metal stems 11 and 11 '.

FIG. 4 is a more detailed drawing of the configuration of the above-mentioned laser capillary tube. As shown in the figure, the ceramic disc 13
Is formed so that the wall of the hollow pipe fits into the recesses provided at the upper and lower ends of the disc, and is performed by heat fusion using the powder glass 4 or the like.

In the laser tube having the above structure, a voltage is applied between the anode 8 and the cathode 9 to cause discharge in the discharge hole 16 to perform laser oscillation. However, this ion laser tube has the problems described below.

Problems to be solved by the invention When ceramics are used as a material for laser thin tube parts, long parts cannot provide sufficient dimensional accuracy due to the nature of ceramics. As the thin tube, a combination of short thin tube parts is used. That is, this is the reason why the structure shown in FIG. 3 is adopted.

By the way, as described above, when the arrangement of the disks is determined so that the discharge holes of each ceramic disk are arranged on a straight line, the conduction of the gas return holes is not always arranged on a straight line. Therefore, the hollow ceramic pipe as described above is inserted between the disks to keep the gas return hole conductive.

However, in the case of such a structure, it is necessary to manufacture two kinds of members, that is, a ceramic disk and a hollow ceramic pipe, and the number of joints of the respective members as the vacuum envelope becomes very large. That is, in the case of a standard ion laser tube, there are as many as 30 to 36 joints. Needless to say, such a configuration is also disadvantageous in terms of maintaining the airtightness of the joint.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a new ion laser tube provided with a ceramic laser capillary tube having good productivity.

Means for Solving Problems As means for solving the problems of the conventional ion laser tube described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of through holes serving as gas return holes are provided with a through hole serving as a discharge path in the center. In an ion laser tube including a discharge path and a gas return hole formed by coaxially stacking a plurality of ceramic disks respectively provided around the discharge hole, and an anode and a cathode arranged at both ends of the discharge path, Each of the ceramic disks is provided with a recess of substantially the same shape formed in the center of each end face, and a through hole for the discharge path and a through hole for the gas return hole formed at the bottom of the recess. An ion laser tube is provided which is an aluminum disc.

Function In the ion laser tube according to the present invention, the cylindrical cavities formed between two adjacent disks by directly laminating the ceramic disks having the recesses in the central portions of the both end surfaces have the conventional ion laser tube. Since it plays the role of a hollow pipe in the pipe, not only the hollow pipe is not required, but also the number of joints between the thin tube parts can be reduced to about half of the conventional one. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an ion laser tube that is more airtight and more reliable than conventional ion laser tubes. Another feature is the high productivity due to the reduction of the number of joints.

Embodiment Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. However, the following is only one embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view of an ion laser tube according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a discharge tube portion shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ion laser tube according to the present invention includes a cylindrical vacuum envelope 1, an anode 8 and a cathode 9 which are provided at opposite ends of the envelope 1 so as to face each other. And a ceramic disk 3 which constitutes a discharge capillary 12 and is disposed between the two. Both ends of the discharge thin tube 12 are joined to the borosilicate glass 5 sealed with KV, respectively, and the metal stems 11 and 1 are attached.
1'is sealed. A Brewster valve 7 in which a Brewster window 6 made of quartz is sealed is welded to the metal stems 11 and 11 ′, respectively.
And the electrodes 10 and 10 'connected to the cathode 9 are made of this metal tem.
It penetrates 11 and 11 'airtightly.

The disk 3 that constitutes the discharge thin tube is a cylindrical shape with an outer diameter of 35 mm and a width of 25 mm, has a concave portion with a diameter of 30 mm and a depth of 7 mm at the center of both ends, and a diameter of 2.4 mm that penetrates the center as a discharge path.
The hole is opened and the diameter is 1.8 mm in a concentric circle surrounding it.
Is provided with a plurality of holes for gas return. This disk is made of aluminum nitride (AlN).

As shown in FIG. 2, the disks 3 are airtightly bonded to each other by heating and melting at 690 ° C. in air using powder glass 4 and an appropriate jig (not shown). A cylindrical cavity 15 is formed between two adjacent disks.

A water-cooled argon laser tube is completed by enclosing a predetermined amount of argon gas in the laser tube having such a structure.

The ion laser tube thus configured does not require a hollow pipe because the columnar cavity formed between the adjacent disks serves as a hollow pipe in the ion laser tube according to the related art, and thus the bonding between the disks is not required. This will greatly reduce the number of parts and increase the airtightness.

Effect of the Invention As described above, the ion laser tube according to the present invention is
By forming a recess of the same cross-sectional area in the center of both ends of a cylindrical ceramic disk, which is a thin tube component, and stacking these disks, a cylindrical cavity formed between two adjacent disks is Since it plays the role of a hollow pipe in the ion laser tube, not only the hollow pipe is not required, but also the number of joints between the thin tube parts can be reduced to about half that in the conventional case. Due to this drastic reduction in the number of joints, it is possible to obtain an ion laser tube which is excellent in productivity, airtightness, and reliability as compared with the conventional laser tube.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is an axial sectional view of an ion laser tube according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a discharge tube portion in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an axial sectional view of a conventional ion laser tube. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the discharge tube portion shown in FIG. (Main reference numbers) 1, 2 ... Vacuum tube envelope, 3, 13 ... Ceramic disc, 6 ... Brewster window, 8 ... Anode, 9 ... Cathode, 10, 10 '... Electrode, 12 ...... Discharge thin tube, 14 …… Hollow pipe, 15 …… Cavity, 17 …… Gas return hole,

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A discharge path and a gas which are formed by coaxially stacking a plurality of ceramic disks each having a plurality of through holes, which serve as discharge paths, and a plurality of through holes, which serve as gas return holes, around the discharge holes. In an ion laser tube including a return hole and an anode and a cathode arranged at both ends of the discharge path, each of the ceramic disks has a recess of substantially the same shape formed in the center of each end face, and the recess. An ion laser tube, which is an aluminum nitride disk having a through hole for the discharge path and a through hole for the gas return hole, which are formed at the bottom of the ion laser tube.