JPS62196879A - Gas laser oscillator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To generate a predetermined turbulent component without enhancing the capacity of a blower more than required by forming the orifice of a throttle, for example, in a slit state and directing the longitudinal direction of the orifice toward a resonance axis. CONSTITUTION:A throttle unit 10 is formed with a slitlike orifice 22, and the longitudinal direction of orifice is formed axially of a discharge tube 1, i.e., in the same direction as a resonance axis direction. The outlet side of the orifice 22 is formed in a cutting edge shape to diffuse a gas laser medium flowing from a circular tube 2 into the tube 1. Thus, the laser oscillating efficiency is improved, and an oscillator can be composed without wastefully increasing the size of a blower for circulating the medium.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a gas laser oscillation device, and relates to a so-called axial flow type device in which the flow of the gas laser medium and the discharge direction are the same direction. .

(Prior Art) Figure 1X7 shows the inflow portion of one element of gas laser medium in the discharge tube section (1) made of silica glass in a conventional axial flow type gas laser oscillator. That is, a cylindrical aperture body (3) is provided inside a circulation tube body (2) that is connected to the discharge tube section (1) and forms part of a circulation path for the gas laser medium. This diaphragm (3) has a circular orifice (4) with an orifice formed in its center, and this orifice (4) connects the radial section (1) and the circulation tube (
2) is located at the connection boundary. (5a) is a bottle-shaped anode constituting one of the main discharge electrodes, and is coaxially inserted through the aperture body (3) with one end formed in a pointed shape inside the opening (4). The other end of the anode (5a) is bent at a right angle and connected to a metal tube (7a) that forms part of the circulation tube (2) and is connected to the power source for the main discharge electrode via a lead wire (6). Connected. Note that (8) is an output mirror that is provided at one end of the discharge tube section (1) and becomes one of the optical resonators.

In the above configuration, the gas laser medium circulates by creating a flow in the direction shown by arrow (C) from arrow (5) through arrow (B). During this flow, the flow shown by the arrow (A) is changed by the oriice (4) of the throttle body (3) into a turbulent flow, which acts to make the discharge uniform within the discharge tube section (1). By the way, a mechanical booster pump is generally used as a blower for circulating the gas laser medium. The power consumption of this mechanical booster pump greatly depends on the diameter of the orifice (4), and when the diameter is large, the power consumption is reduced, but the turbulence component is also reduced, and as a result, the power that can be stably injected is also reduced.

Unable to obtain large laser output. On the other hand, in order to increase the turbulence component, it is necessary to reduce the diameter of the opening, but this requires a booster pump that consumes more power, resulting in the problem that the device itself becomes larger.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, it is necessary to improve the inversely proportional relationship between the ability of the blower to create a flow of the gas laser medium and the amount of turbulence component to maintain uniform discharge. 1. The present invention aims to satisfy this requirement.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for solving the problem) The orifice of the diaphragm, which is provided at the inlet of the gas laser medium in the vicinity of the discharge tube section and makes the flow of the gas laser medium turbulent, is made non-circular and the length of the optical axis component is adjusted accordingly. This structure is made longer than the length in the orthogonal direction.

(effect) For example, make the orifice of the aperture into a slit shape.

Furthermore, by oriented the longitudinal direction toward the resonance axis, it was possible to generate a predetermined turbulence component without increasing the capacity of the blower more than necessary.

(Example) EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, this invention will be explained based on drawing which shows an Example.

FIG. 1 shows an axial flow gas laser oscillator according to an embodiment of the present invention, which has a first-order configuration. Note that parts common to those shown in FIG. 7 are designated by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 7, and explanations thereof will be omitted. That is, the discharge tube part (1
), the circulation pipe body (2) is connected in an E-shape at both ends and the center thereof as connection points. Circulation tube (2)
In the discharge tube section (1), aperture bodies (10a) and (10b), which will be described later, are provided inside the connecting portions of both ends of the discharge tube section (1), respectively. In these aperture parts, an anode (5a),
(5b) are inserted through the metal tubes (7a) and (7b
) are connected to each other. Metal tubes (12a) are connected to the center of the discharge tube section (1) and are located close to the reflux section αυ constituting a part of the circulation tube body (2) on the left and right, respectively, with the reflux tube αυ in between. , (12b) is the discharge tube section (1
) and is fixed in place. These metal tubes (12
a), (12b) has a ring-shaped cathode (13a) on the inner wall surface.
) and (13b) are brought into contact with each other in a conductive state.

In the discharge tube section (1), two discharge sections (14a), (
14b). Anodes (5a), (5b) and cathodes (13a).

(13b) is connected to a power supply unit that supplies high-voltage direct current via a lead wire (6) to form a discharge circuit.

Note that ballast resistors (16a) and (16b) for stabilizing discharge are connected to the cathode α moats in this discharge circuit, respectively. On the other hand, in the circulation pipe body (2), the circulation part αυ
is connected to a blower αD such as a mechanical booster pump and heat exchangers (18a) and (18b) located on both sides thereof. An exhaust device (II) such as a vacuum pump is connected to one heat exchanger (18a) on the discharge tube section (1) side.

A supply device iw for supplying a gas laser medium is connected to the other heat exchanger (18b) in the pair. Also.

An output mirror (8) and a total reflection mirror Qυ are closely attached to both ends of the discharge tube section (1) to form an optical resonator.

By the way, the aperture body OQ has a slit-shaped orifice (c) formed therein as shown in FIGS.
), that is, in the same direction as the resonance axis direction. The outlet side of the orifice tz3 is formed into a blade shape in order to diffuse the flow of the gas laser medium flowing into the discharge tube section (1) from the circulation tube body (2). In addition, the inner diameter of the discharge tube part (1) of the above-mentioned Oriswis device is 16NL.
At this time, the shape is 15a1 in the longitudinal direction and 8 in width.

With the above configuration, when the blower (1η) is operated, it is supplied from the supply device (2I) to the discharge tube section (1) and the circulating body (2).
) The gas laser medium sealed at a predetermined pressure in the arrows (A), (B), (C), (D) and (E)
A two-way circulating flow is formed as shown by .

FIG. 4 shows input/output characteristics when using a conventional diaphragm having a circular aperture and the diaphragm body having a slit-shaped orifice in the above embodiment.

Note that one circular orifice has a diameter of 10111L, and the slit-shaped orifice has eight widths. Also, the blower has the same capacity. As is clear from this figure, the slit-shaped orifice aperture improved both the maximum output and the discharge efficiency by about 5%. FIG. 5 shows the correlation between the opening area of the circular orifice and the slit-shaped orifice, the maximum laser output, and the power consumption of the blower. As is clear from this figure, the slit-shaped orifice has a result of more than 30% less power consumption at the same laser output level. From this, when comparing the overall efficiency (Milaser output/(discharge input power consumption of sub-blower)), the conventional aperture body with a circular orifice (10 diameter) is 8.0%, while the slit-shaped orifice (8 m @ ) was 9.8%, an improvement of 20%.

Incidentally, in the above embodiment, the orifice of the diaphragm C1 (I) is formed into a slit shape, but the orifice is not limited to this, and the orifice may be formed into an elliptical or oval shape, a diamond shape, or a triangular shape, as shown in FIG. Almost the same improvement can be obtained by changing the shape.Furthermore, the long axis direction of the orifice is not necessarily parallel to the resonance axis direction, but may be slightly inclined.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the laser oscillation efficiency is improved by not making the orifice of the aperture body circular, but by changing the ratio between the two plane directions and installing the orifice with the longer one facing the resonance axis.

It has become possible to construct a launching device without unnecessarily increasing the size of the blower that circulates the gas laser medium, and therefore the device can be made smaller when obtaining the same output.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
An enlarged sectional view of part (A) in the figure, Figure 3 shows the 11th bacterium and the 2nd bacterium.
FIG. 4 is an input/output characteristic diagram, FIG. 5 is a correlation diagram between the aperture area of the diaphragm, maximum laser output, and blower power consumption, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the aperture body in the embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a conventional example. (1)...discharge tube section, C5m), (5
b)...Anode. (8) --- Output mirror, (10a), (10b
)...Aperture body. αQ...Power supply section, C1? )...Blower (air blowing means). Qυ... Total reflection mirror, 4... Orifice. Figure 1 Figure 7 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 6 - Output (W)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A discharge tube section that has inside it at least one main discharge electrode consisting of a power supply section and an anode and a cathode connected to the power supply section and provided at a predetermined distance; A circulation tube section connected to the outer side near each of the anode and cathode to form a circulation path, a gas laser medium supplied to the discharge tube section through the circulation tube section, and a gas laser provided in the circulation tube section. In a gas laser oscillator equipped with a blowing means for circulating a medium and an optical resonator provided oppositely to each other at both ends of the discharge tube section, a connecting portion of the circulation tube section on the anode side has a non-circular shape. 1. A gas laser oscillator comprising: a diaphragm having an orifice whose length in the direction of the optical axis is longer than the length perpendicular thereto; (2) The gas laser oscillator according to claim 1, wherein the orifice has a slit shape, an elliptical shape, an elliptical shape, a triangular shape, or a rhombic shape.