JPS5918695Y2 - ion laser tube - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to the structure of an anode of a high-power ion laser tube.

In general, ion lasers are made by filling a laser tube with argon gas or krypton gas and applying a voltage between the anode and cathode to generate a discharge, and the angle between a pair of reflecting mirrors that form an optical resonator placed at both ends of the laser tube. is adjusted appropriately to obtain laser oscillation.

These ion laser devices have several types of oscillation wavelengths and a large output value, so they are used in medical, measurement, information processing, and other applications.
It is used in many fields such as processing.

High-power ion laser tube has a discharge voltage of several hundred square meters and several tens of A.
Since it is used under a large current discharge of ~ several hundred A, the anode loss consumed in the anode reaches several hundred W to several KW.

Materials used for the anode are selected based on thermal properties such as work function, vapor pressure, power consumption, melting point, and thermal conductivity, as well as ease of processing and cooling structure, and include graphite, molybdenum,
Materials such as copper are generally used.

However, when the anode loss ranges from hundreds of watts to several kilowatts, graphite has the disadvantage of having a large surface area because it uses radiation cooling, resulting in a large shape, and molybdenum has disadvantages such as poor workability and being expensive. Because there is
Copper is the most suitable because it is easy to process, inexpensive, can be directly cooled, and has a large anode allowable loss.

There are two types of configurations for the anode of an ion laser tube: a hollow coaxial type that is placed on an extension of the plasma capillary, and an anode that is installed at a location away from the axis of the plasma capillary.

When cooling these with water, in the former case, the anode itself is part of the envelope, and a water jacket is provided to cover the envelope so that the plasma capillary and the anode are cooled at the same time. Since it is electrically connected through water, it is necessary to use an insulating material (glass, etc.) in the jacket as a means of electrically blocking it, making it mechanically weak.

Furthermore, since it is cooled at the same time as the plasma thin tube, there are drawbacks such as poor cooling efficiency.

On the other hand, the latter type of anode, in which the anode is provided at a location away from the axis of the plasma capillary, has drawbacks such as an increase in the size of the entire laser tube.

The aim of this invention is to provide an ion laser tube that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks.

The present invention is characterized by having a hollow coaxial anode provided on an extension of the plasma capillary and having a structure that cools the anode separately from the water jacket of the plasma capillary.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments and drawings.

The ion laser tube 14 has an anode 4. Cathode 5. A plasma capillary tube in which graphite chips 2 and insulating spacers 3 are alternately laminated and connected by insulating struts 15, a capillary envelope 1 that surrounds these and is to be water-cooled, other envelopes 7, and Brewster. The window 8 is the main component.

The cathode 5 is fixed by an introduction rod 6 attached to the envelope 1.

When a voltage of several 100 V is applied between the anode 4 and the cathode 5 and a current discharge of several hundred A is performed at the center hole of the graphite disk 2, the anode loss of the anode 4 amounts to several KW, but the anode 4 has no loss. By directly cooling the anode 4 with water through the water cooling pipe 9, it is possible to withstand anode loss.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the laser tube near the anode 4.

The anode 4 is made of a copper hollow cylindrical member 12,13 having a hollow part 16 through which the laser beam passes, and a circumferential water cooling groove 17 is provided between the outer periphery of the hollow cylindrical member 12 and the hollow part 16. The hollow cylindrical members 12 and 13 are integrated by brazing.

A water supply and drainage pipe 9 is integrated with the hollow cylindrical member 12 by brazing so as to face the water cooling groove 17.

A Kovar (Kv) metal enclosure plate 11 is brazed on the extension of the water supply and drainage pipe 9, while a Kv gold metal enclosure plate 10 is attached to the extension of the envelope 1.

The inner diameter of the Kv gold metal enclosure plate 10 is made to fit the outer diameter of the Kv gold metal enclosure plate 11, and the Kv gold metal enclosure plates 10 and 11 are kept vacuum-tight by arc welding.

Since the cooling water for the anode 4 and the cooling water for the plasma capillary can be separated from each other, it is easy to handle the potential relationship.Also, since the anode can be cooled independently, sufficient cooling can be achieved without being affected by the heat generated by the plasma capillary. It can be done.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an ion laser tube as an embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the laser tube showing the anode structure.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In an ion laser tube consisting of an anode, a cathode, and a plasma thin tube, the cathode includes a hollow cylindrical member 13 having a hollow part in the center through which laser light can pass, and a groove for water cooling between the outer periphery and the hollow part. , a hollow cylindrical member 1 to which a water supply and drainage pipe 9 is attached and which has a hollow part in the center through which a laser beam can pass.
2 is fixed so that the water cooling groove and the water supply/drainage pipe 9 communicate with each other, and the containment dish 11 attached to the water supply/drainage pipe 9 is provided at the end of the envelope 1.
An ion laser tube characterized in that it is fitted and fixed to.