JPS6136398B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a laser device having a laser tube equipped with an auxiliary electrode.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional laser device of this type connects the negative terminal of a DC power supply 1 to a cathode 3 of a laser tube 2, and connects the positive terminal to a trigger transformer 20.
It is connected to the anode 4 of the laser tube 2 through. When the trigger power supply 19 is turned on, a trigger voltage is generated on the secondary side of the trigger transformer 20, and the laser tube 2 is discharged between the anode 4 and the cathode 3 due to this trigger voltage, and the optical resonator 7, 7' causes laser oscillation. In particular, in an ion laser having a graphite sintered thin tube, dust inside the laser tube 2 adheres to the optical windows 22, 22' of the laser tube 2 due to electric discharge between the anode 4 and the cathode 3, and the laser This interferes with the oscillation, reduces the laser output 21, and becomes an unstable factor in the laser output 21. Further, it is difficult to remove dust once attached. Therefore, in order to stabilize the laser output 21, the optical windows 22, 2
It is an essential requirement that no dust be allowed to adhere to 2'.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a laser device having a laser tube in which dust inside the laser tube is prevented from adhering to an optical window.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. Connect the negative terminal of the main discharge DC power supply 1 shown in the figure to the cathode 3 of the laser tube 2, and pass the positive terminal through the trigger coil 11 to the anode 4 of the laser tube 2.
The negative side of the 200V trigger power supply 16 is connected to the DC power supply 1 side of the trigger coil 11, and the positive side is connected to the auxiliary electrode 6 through the stabilizing resistor 8, and the anode side auxiliary through the stabilizing resistor 9 and the diode 10. Connect to electrode 5. Then, when the push button switch 17 is turned on for a moment, the electric charge charged in the capacitor 14 through the resistor 15 connected to the positive side of the trigger power supply 16 is discharged through the primary trigger coil 13, and the secondary trigger coil 12 receives a high voltage. (about
3kV) and charges the capacitor 23, the charge charged in the capacitor 23 is discharged through the trigger coil 11 by the spark gap 18,
A trigger voltage is generated across the trigger coil 11,
When the positive terminal side of the DC power supply 1 becomes a negative potential and the anode 4 side becomes a positive potential, a trigger voltage is accumulated in the DC power supply 1, and discharge starts between the anode 4 and the cathode 3 of the laser tube 2. At the same time, the anode 4 and the anode side auxiliary electrode 5 are
The presence of the diode 10 prevents a discharge from occurring between the anode 4 and the cathode 3, and the trigger voltage becomes the main discharge between the anode 4 and the cathode 3. In this way, the main discharge between the anode 4 and the cathode 3 starts reliably, and at the same time as the trigger voltage disappears, the main discharge between the anode side auxiliary electrode 5 and the anode 4, and between the cathode side auxiliary electrode 6 and the cathode 3 also starts. The discharge starts with the main discharge between 4 and 4 as a trigger. Furthermore, since the trigger coil 11 has a very small DC resistance and a voltage drop of 1 V or less, the discharge continues between the auxiliary electrode 5 and the anode 4 using the trigger power supply 16 as a current source, and the discharge between the auxiliary electrode 6 and the cathode 3 continues. The discharge also continues stably through the power supply trigger power supply 16. Then, the dust heading towards the optical window 22' is removed from the anode 4 by discharge towards the anode 4 from the auxiliary electrode 5.
The dust that is pushed back toward the optical window 22 is pushed back toward the cathode 3 by the discharge from the auxiliary electrode 6 toward the cathode 3 . Therefore, at the same time as the laser tube 2 discharges, dust is prevented from adhering to the optical windows 22, 22', stable laser output is obtained, and the life of the laser tube is extended.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of a conventional laser device including a trigger circuit, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention including a trigger circuit and an auxiliary electrode circuit. 1... DC power supply, 2... Laser tube, 3... Cathode, 4... Anode, 5... Anode side auxiliary electrode, 6... Cathode side auxiliary electrode, 8 and 9... Stabilizing resistor, 10... Anti-reverse diode, 11,1
2, 13...Trigger coil, 16...Trigger power supply, 17...Push button switch, 22 and 22'...Optical window.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A laser tube having an anode and a cathode for main discharge disposed along the tube axis, and an auxiliary electrode disposed outside the anode and cathode in the tube axis direction; a DC power source serving as a power source for the main discharge; and; a trigger circuit including a trigger power supply and a trigger coil for generating a trigger voltage in series with the DC power supply;
a circuit including a stabilizing resistor and a backflow prevention diode connected from the positive side of the trigger power supply to between the auxiliary electrodes on the anode side; a stabilizing resistor connected between the positive side of the trigger power supply and the auxiliary electrodes on the cathode side; A laser device comprising: and;