JPS61119085A - Carbon dioxide gas laser oscillator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control the output of laser beams constantly without exerting a thermal influence on other positions by stabilizing a discharge state by dividing an active medium excitation system into a discharge for main excitation and a light excitation for control of the output. CONSTITUTION:When the output of laser beams decreases under the predetermined value, an intensity of a light source is enhanced while keeping a discharge for main excitation in a constant state thereby increasing a light energy. Then electrons are excited from a bottom level 10 to the upper laser level 9 which is concerned with laser oscillation among the light energy levels of CO2 by quantum mechanics and an excited state of a laser medium increases and the output of laser beams increases. When the output of laser beams increases over the predetermined value, an intensity of the light source is reduced to reduce the output of laser beams and minute variation of the output of laser beams is controlled so as to offer the output of laser beams of the predetermined intensity. A part of the output of laser beams is detected by a power sensor 6 and the signal is fed back to a control power source 3 of the light source 7 to control the intensity of the light source 7 thereby controlling the output of the laser beams 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a carbon dioxide laser oscillation device that excites a laser medium such as carbon dioxide gas by discharge to output laser light, and particularly relates to its output control.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional carbon dioxide laser oscillation device. In the figure, (1) represents Co, I COI o, I
A laser medium containing N, IH, etc., (2) a pair of discharge electrodes for supplying electrical energy to the laser medium (1), and (3) supplying electrical energy (current) to the electrode (2). (4) is a resonator (a pair of mirrors) that amplifies the laser light generated from the laser medium (1).
, (5) is the output laser beam, and (6) is a power sensor for measuring the intensity of the laser beam.

A conventional carbon dioxide laser oscillation device is configured as described above, and a current is supplied from the power source (3) to the discharge electrode (2), and this current causes discharge to occur between the discharge electrodes (2) via the laser medium (1). occurs, electrical energy is given to the laser medium (1), and the state becomes capable of laser beam oscillation. Then,
The laser beam is amplified between the resonator (4), which is made up of two mirrors, and the laser beam (5) is output from the output side mirror (4), which has a little transparency. There is.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In the conventional carbon dioxide laser oscillation device as described above, in order to stably extract the laser light, a part of the laser light is detected by the power sensor (6), and it is fed back to the power supply (3) and connected to the electrode ( 2) The current applied to the circuit is controlled. That is, when the output of the laser beam decreases below the set value, the applied current is increased and the excited state of the laser medium is increased.
When the output of the laser beam is increased, and conversely, the output of the laser beam increases beyond the set value, the applied current is decreased to decrease the output of the laser beam.

As a precaution, in conventional carbon dioxide laser oscillation devices, the applied current must be changed every time in order to control the laser light output, which causes the problem that the discharge between the electrodes becomes unstable. Furthermore, since the applied current power source and the control power source are not independent, there is a problem that they are easily influenced by each other. Further, since it is a gas discharge, arc discharge often occurs between the electrodes, but this influence immediately affects the control power supply, causing a problem in that the output of the laser light fluctuates. Furthermore, the supply of electrical energy through discharge also generates high-temperature heat between the electrodes.

Therefore, if the output of the laser beam decreases and an excessive current is applied to the electrode by controlling the applied current, higher heat will be generated and the effect of the heat will be transmitted to the mirrors of the resonator, etc., and the output of the laser beam will be reduced. There was a problem that the source code fluctuated. Further, there is a problem in that CO, dissociates into cO due to discharge, resulting in a gas deterioration phenomenon in which the output of the laser light decreases over time.

This invention was made in order to solve these problems, and it is a carbon dioxide carbon dioxide carbon dioxide having an output control mechanism that can stabilize the discharge state and control the output of laser light at a constant level without giving any thermal influence to other parts. The purpose is to obtain a gas laser oscillation device.

[Means for solving problems]

The carbon dioxide laser oscillation device according to the present invention has at least Cog m N! In a carbon dioxide laser excavation device that outputs laser light by exciting a laser medium containing a by discharge, there is provided a light source that excites the laser medium by irradiating the laser medium with light, and an output of the light source that is the output of the laser light. The system is equipped with a control device that performs control based on the following.

[For production]

In this invention, since a light source that irradiates light onto a laser medium to excite the laser medium and a control device that controls the output of this light source based on the output of the laser beam are provided, the discharge conditions are Even if the value varies, the laser medium is excited by the light output from the light source, and the output intensity of the laser light is maintained at a constant value.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of this invention! 0,
(1) is a laser medium consisting of CO2+ Co + 02 + He, etc.; (2) is this laser medium; (1) is a pair of discharge electrodes for providing K electrical energy; (3) is a laser medium that supplies electrical energy to electrode (2). (4) is a resonator (a pair of mirrors) that amplifies the laser light generated from the laser medium (1), α is the output laser light, (6) is This is a power sensor for measuring the output intensity of the laser beam. And (7) is a light source provided to give optical energy to the laser medium (1), and (8) controls the output of the light source (7) by the signal fed back from the power sensor (6). This is the control power supply.

In the carbon dioxide laser oscillator configured as described above, if the output of the laser light decreases beyond the set value, the intensity of the light source is increased while the main excitation discharge remains constant.
As the light energy increases, as shown in Figure 2, quantum mechanically co! Within one unit of energy, electrons are excited from the base unit (to) to the upper laser unit (9) involved in laser oscillation, the excited state of the laser medium increases, the output of the laser light increases, and vice versa. If the laser light output does not increase more than the set value, reduce the intensity of the light source and reduce the output power of the laser light. A laser beam output of a controlled and set intensity is given. Here, a part of the output of the laser beam is detected by the power sensor (6), and the signal is sent to the light source (7).
) control power supply ``1.
), the way the light (5) is emitted is controlled. In addition, 1. The above control is based on the fact that CO2 dissociates into CO due to emission tK and is not involved in -7 oscillation, thus reducing the output of the laser beam. Either the size is selected to be large enough to oxidize and return to CO2, or by exciting N2, the number of laser units on the Cot increases and the output of the laser light increases. Taking into consideration, the magnitude of the above light energy is N! [Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the active medium excitation mechanism can be divided into discharge for main excitation and optical excitation for output control. Because they are separated, the output of the laser light can be controlled while keeping the discharge for main excitation constant, and the frequency of the light (i.e., the magnitude of the light energy) can be controlled.
By selecting one that has little thermal influence, it is possible to efficiently control the output of the laser beam without affecting other parts such as the mirror. In addition, by selecting the magnitude of the light energy, it is possible to prevent the gas deterioration effect that causes the Co snow to dissociate into COK due to discharge and reduce the output of the laser light.
In a sealed cut-off type carbon dioxide laser oscillator, the cut-off time is significantly extended.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a carbon dioxide laser oscillation device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining the energy levels of CO2 and N2, and FIG. 3 is a conventional applied current output control type carbon dioxide laser device. FIG. In the figure, (1) is the laser medium, (2) is the electrode, and (3
) is the power supply, (4) is the resonator, (5) is the laser beam, (6)
is a power sensor, (7) is a light source, (8) is a control power source, (
9) is the laser unit above CO2, and αO is the base unit of Co. In each figure, the same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts. Agent Patent Attorney Sanro Kimura 1st vA 2 piece 3, * + Hiroshi 4 Hōko 5: Rei 708 ・Shiyagura? Serin Figure 2

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a carbon dioxide laser oscillation device that excites a laser medium containing at least CO_2 and N_2 by discharge to output laser light, a light source that excites the laser medium by irradiating the laser medium with light; A carbon dioxide laser oscillation device comprising: a control device that controls the output of a light source based on the output of the laser beam. (2) The carbon dioxide laser oscillation device according to claim 1, wherein the frequency of the light outputted by the light source can be arbitrarily selected.