JPS6181682A - Ion laser tube - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent generation of powder and eliminate difficulty in obtaining accuracy of straightness and internal diameter of fine tube by arranging in cascade many ceramic disks and fine tube block. CONSTITUTION:Since the internal wall of ceramic pipe 1 and external circumference of disk 2 are placed in contact through a cap shaped metal plate 4, it is not required to enhance the manufacturing accuracy of them and arrangement of disk for obtaining a fine type can be attained by positioning them to the arrangement holes bored with accuracy in the periphery of disk through ceramic rod. Moreover, a metal disk 4 expands with temperature rise of disk and is forced to be in contact with the internal wall of pipe 1. Therefore, good heat conductivity can be assured without giving a strong stress to the pipe 1 by defining thickness and external size at the time of design.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) This invention relates to the structure of an ion laser tube using a gas such as argon or krypton that emits a higher laser output than a large current discharge.

(Prior art and its problems) As is well known, ion lasers, which perform laser oscillation by utilizing the transition between energy levels of ionized gases such as argon and krypton, need to increase the ion density in order to achieve high output. To achieve this, the inner diameter is 1 to 3.
A large current exceeding IOA must be passed through the tube of m. There are various restrictions on the tube shrinking material and the structure of the thin tube that can withstand such a large current in terms of heat resistance, heat radiation, etc.

Conventionally, several methods have been used for this capillary material and structure, and the typical one is a method in which graphite disks with a hole for the capillary in the center are arranged in series with an insulator interposed between them. It has a structure in which this is housed in a quartz tube, and the thin tube is cooled by absorbing the radiant heat from the disk with water from outside the quartz tube. Another typical example is a method using a BeO ceramic tube, in which the outer periphery of the BeO ceramic tube is directly cooled with water to utilize the high thermal conductivity of BeO.

However, graphite disk capillary tubes have disadvantages such as powder easily coming out during use (this can reduce the output due to the blue metal window at the end of the capillary tube, and there are restrictions on transportation at 1%).Also, BeO ceramic Since thin tubes use Be, which is toxic, supply sources are becoming limited and they are not only extremely expensive, but also difficult to manufacture while maintaining the inner diameter and straightness. There is.

Recently, US Pat. No. 437a600 discloses a thin tube structure in which a tungsten disk is brazed into an alumina ceramic pipe via a cup-shaped copper plate.

This thin tube structure eliminates the two drawbacks of easy powder generation and toxicity, but it has a thinner disk and a lower ratio of the thin tube to the entire length, making it more efficient in oscillation than conventional laser tubes. There is a serious drawback in that it is about 30% lower.

The purpose of this invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of conventional ion laser tubes, such as powder generation and the difficulty in determining the straightness and inner diameter of the thin tube, and to improve the oscillation efficiency without significantly reducing the effective length of the thin tube. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ion laser tube in which cooling efficiency in a thin tube is improved without reducing the cooling efficiency.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention includes a capillary section, a ceramic tube housing the capillary section, an anode and a cathode disposed near both ends of the capillary section, and sealing of both sides of the ceramic pipe. It includes a vacuum container, and the capillary part has a small hole constituting the capillary near the center,
A ceramic disk with multiple small holes around the periphery that serves as a gas return bus, and a cylindrical flange that has holes with a diameter equal to or larger than each of the small holes in this disk, and is fixed to the disk surface by striking each hole position. The present invention is characterized in that it is constructed by arranging a large number of thin tube blocks made of metal plates having sections in series in series using means such that the small tube holes are aligned in a straight line. This thin tube portion is housed in a ceramic tube having an inner diameter such that the cylindrical flange of the metal plate is inscribed therein. Suitable materials for the ceramic disk include ceramic, silicon carbide, boron nitride, and alumina porcelain. Furthermore, as the ceramic tube, alumina porcelain is preferable because of its low cost and the fact that it can be used as a vacuum container.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an ion laser tube showing an embodiment of the present invention. The ion laser tube of the present invention includes a ceramic disk 2. This #I
A ceramic pipe 1 that accommodates the v section, an anode 5 and a cathode 6 arranged near both ends of the thin tube section, and glass containers 8 and 8 provided at both ends of the ceramic pipe 10 via metal cylindrical members 7 and 7'. ′. The anode 5 is housed in the ceramic pipe 1 via a cap-shaped metal plate similar to the capillary disk. A metal cylindrical member 7 made of Kovar metal or the like is brazed at both ends of the ceramic pipe l.
Vacuum vessels 8, 8' made of glass or the like are fused together via 7', and an anode lead wire 10 and a cathode lead wire 9 are embedded in each, and furthermore, blue metal windows 11, 11 are attached. The material of the ceramic disk 2 is preferably BeO=Sin, boron nitride, etc., which have high thermal conductivity, but since the heat generated in the thin tube section is transferred to the ceramic pipe 1 by the metal plate 4, it is preferable to use a relatively thermally conductive material such as alumina ceramic. It doesn't matter if the material is bad. As shown in Figure 2, the ceramic disc has a large central lζ tubule.
1 has a shape with a hole 22 through which a ceramic rod for alignment passes and a hole 23 for a gas return bus. Further, as the material for the ceramic pipe 1, alumina ceramic is preferable because it is low in cost and can be used as a vacuum container. The metal plate 4 is fixed to the ceramic pipe 1 by contacting with spring properties or by brazing to increase thermal conductivity with the inner wall.

Since the inner wall of the ceramic pipe and the disk are in contact with each other via the metal plate 4 shaped like a disk outer circumferential cap, there is no need to increase the machining precision of both, and the disks can be aligned to form a thin tube by drilling holes around the disk with high positional accuracy. This is accomplished by positioning a ceramic rod through an alignment hole. In addition, the cap-shaped metal plate expands as the temperature of the disk increases and comes into strong contact with the inner wall of the ceramic pipe. Good heat conduction can be ensured without adding heat.

The ion rape tube having the above structure is fixed in a solenoid coil with O-rings arranged at both ends, and cooling water is flowed between the inner wall of the solenoid coil and the outer wall of the ceramic pipe 1. Laser action occurs by placing a laser tube between a resonator (not shown), applying voltage to the anode-cathode junction, and causing current to flow. In an ion laser with a normal output of 4W, there are three
In order to flow a current of about 0, approximately 10KW of power is consumed as a whole, and this heat must be removed efficiently with cooling water without raising the temperature of the thin tubes above the heat-resistant temperature of the material. In the laser tube of this invention, the heat generated at the center of the disk is transmitted to the brazed metal plate, mainly through this metal plate to the ceramic pipe, and further absorbed by the cooling water through the wall of this pipe.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the ion laser tube of the present invention has the advantage of replacing the powdery material such as the graphite disk with ceramic, and making thin and long tubes with precision such as BeO ceramic tubes. All of the disadvantages of the thin tube section of conventional ion laser tubes are eliminated, such as eliminating the increase in cost by aligning the disks, and using a thick ceramic disk to compensate for the low thin tube occupation rate of a tungsten disk. Furthermore, by configuring the central envelope as a ceramic pipe, the dimensional accuracy of the cooling section can be increased, and the width of the cooling layer between the solenoid coil and the solenoid coil can be increased, increasing the flow rate and cooling efficiency. In addition, the assembly method is not much different from that of conventional disk-type ion laser tubes, and brazing the metal plate to the disk, and in some cases brazing the inner wall of the ceramic pipe, is not related to vacuum sealing. Therefore, it is possible to perform brazing using the conventional brazing method without strict control of the brazing process, and it is possible to obtain a highly efficient ion laser tube using relatively inexpensive parts and a simple assembly method. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the ion laser tube of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of the shape of the disk. 1...Ceramic pipe, 2...Ceramic disk, 3...Ceramic rod for disk alignment, 4...Cap-shaped metal plate, 5...
...Anode, 6...Cathode, 7,7'...
...Metal cylindrical member, 8, 8'-vacuum container, 9...
... Cathode lead wire, 10... Positive ffl
lj-do line, 11.11'... Blue meta window,
21... Hole for thin tube, 22... Hole for alignment, 23... Hole for gas return bath.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A ceramic disc with a small hole constituting a thin tube near the center and a plurality of small holes around the periphery serving as a gas return bus, and a hole with a diameter equal to or larger than each of the small holes in the disk, and each hole position A large number of capillary blocks made of metal plates having cylindrical flanges that are aligned and fixed to the disk surface are arranged in series using a method that aligns the small tube holes in a straight line. An ion laser tube characterized in that it has a thin tube portion housed in a ceramic tube having an inner diameter such that a cylindrical flange of a plate is inscribed therein.