RU2227949C2 - High-power slotted gas laser - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: laser engineering. SUBSTANCE: laser has pair of elongated electrodes that function to limit discharge area between two opposing surfaces of electrodes, exciting means for feeding laser gas excitation energy to electrodes, and two resonator-forming mirrors. First mirror has first curvature and is disposed at first distance on longitudinal axis from first end of electrode pair. Second mirror is disposed in front of second end of electrode pair. Discharge area has longitudinal axis as well as large and small transverse axes. Opposing surfaces of electrodes have curvature dictating wavefront curvature for main transverse mode of emission relative to transverse axis. Mentioned curvature of wavefront at first distance coincides in effect with that of first mirror. EFFECT: enhanced power and mode spectral frequency of compact laser. 32 cl, 7 dwg

Description

Description text in facsimile form (see graphic part).

Claims (32)

1. A gas laser containing a pair of elongated electrodes, bounding the discharge region between two opposite surfaces of said elongated electrodes, wherein the discharge region has a longitudinal axis, as well as large and small transverse axes, the laser gas located in the indicated discharge region, excitation means for supplying to energy electrodes for exciting the laser gas, a first mirror having a first curvature and located at a first distance along the longitudinal axis from the first end of the pair of elongated electrodes, and the second a mirror located in front of the second end of the pair of elongated electrodes, while the first and second mirrors form a resonator, while the two indicated opposite surfaces of the electrodes have, respectively, a curvature that determines the curvature of the wavefront for the main transverse radiation mode with respect to the small transverse axis, and the curvature of the wavefront at the first distance essentially coincides with the curvature of the first mirror. 2. The gas laser according to claim 1, in which the second mirror has a second curvature and is located at a second distance along the longitudinal axis from the second end of the pair of electrodes, wherein said curvature of the electrodes determines such curvature of said wavefront with respect to a small transverse axis that is at a second distance essentially coincides with the curvature of the second mirror. 3. The gas laser according to claim 1, in which the profile of the discharge region, determined by the curvature of the indicated opposite surfaces of the electrodes, has a minimum gap value that exceeds 2 mm 4. The gas laser according to claim 3, in which the specified minimum gap lies in the range of 2.5-3.7 mm 5. The gas laser according to claim 3, in which the maximum value of the specified gap lies in the range of 3.5-6 mm 6. The gas laser according to any one of claims 2 to 5, in which the first and / or second distance lies in the range of 15-50 mm. 7. The gas laser according to claim 6, in which the first and / or second distance is about 40 mm 8. A gas laser according to any one of claims 1 to 7, in which the first and second mirrors form an unstable negative branch resonator in the direction of the large transverse axis. 9. The gas laser according to any one of claims 1 to 8, in which the first and second mirrors are spherical or parabolic. 10. A gas laser according to any one of claims 3 to 9, in which the first and second distances are selected in accordance with the minimum gap and the maximum gap so that the cavity loss for the main transverse radiation mode is less than 1%. 11. A gas laser according to any one of claims 2 to 9, wherein the first mirror has a curvature of 1 / R ₁ and the second mirror has a curvature of 1 / R ₂ , wherein R ₁ and R ₂ are selected so that said front curvature K is on the first and the second distance for the main transverse radiation mode with respect to the small transverse axis is approximately equal

12. The gas laser according to claim 11, in which R ₁ and R ₂ are in the range from 1 to 4 m. 13. The gas laser according to any one of claims 1 to 12, in which the increase in the specified resonator lies in the range of 1.1-2.0. 14. A gas laser according to any one of claims 1 to 13, in which at least one of the two opposite surfaces of the elongated electrodes includes a flat surface area. 15. The gas laser according to any one of claims 1 to 14, in which one of the two electrodes is electrically connected to the reference potential and contains a solid surface facing the other electrode. 16. A gas laser according to any one of claims 1 to 15, comprising a plurality of high-frequency communication elements for supplying high-frequency energy from the excitation means to the discharge region. 17. The gas laser according to 14 or 16, in which at least two of these sections with a flat surface are electrically isolated from each other and are used as these elements of high-frequency communication. 18. A gas laser according to any one of claims 1 to 17, in which the excitation means are configured to operate in the range of about 35-45 MHz. 19. A gas laser according to any one of claims 1 to 18, further comprising at least one pair of rotary mirrors located on the optical path defined by the first and second mirrors, to form a zigzag optical path in a plane defined by a longitudinal axis and a large transverse axis. 20. The gas laser according to claim 19, in which the specified curvature of the electrodes is such that the curvature of the wavefront of the fundamental radiation mode essentially coincides with the curvature of the corresponding mirror of the at least two rotary mirrors at the location of this mirror. 21. The gas laser according to claim 1, in which the first and second mirrors form a confocal resonator, the focus of which lies inside this resonator. 22. The gas laser according to claim 19, in which the first and second mirrors and at least one pair of rotary mirrors determine an odd number of foci located inside the resonator, each pair of mirrors forming the cavity of the resonator determines their common focus. 23. The gas laser according to any one of paragraphs.19-21, in which at least one pair of rotary mirrors is a spherical or parabolic mirror. 24. The gas laser according to claim 19, in which the rotary mirrors located near the first end of the pair of electrodes are installed at a distance from this end, essentially equal to the first distance. 25. The gas laser according to claim 19 or 22, in which the rotary mirrors located near the second end of the pair of electrodes are installed at a distance from this end, essentially equal to the second distance. 26. A gas laser according to any one of claims 1 to 25, in which the length of the pair of electrodes along the longitudinal axis is approximately 1600 mm, the width in the direction of the large transverse axis is approximately 350 mm, the minimum clearance is in the range of 3.5-3.7 mm, the maximum gap is in the range of 4.5-5 mm, and the first and second distances are about 40 mm. 27. The gas laser according to any one of claims 1 to 26, in which the specific high-frequency excitation power lies in the range of 10-15 W / cm ³ . 28. The gas laser according to clause 16 or 17, in which the excitation means are configured to supply individually selectable high-frequency power to each of the communication elements. 29. The gas laser according to claim 28, in which the excitation means is configured to supply various high-frequency power to the high-frequency communication elements, depending on the distance from the corresponding communication element to the surface of the opposite electrode. 30. The gas laser according to any one of claims 1 to 29, in which the laser gas contains carbon dioxide. 31. The gas laser according to claim 19, in which the focal length of one of the at least two rotary mirrors differs from the focal length of the other of the at least two rotary mirrors. 32. The gas laser according to claim 19, in which two rotary mirrors define a zigzag optical path within the specified resonator and each of the mirrors in the zigzag optical path has a different focal length, each focal length being selected so that the arrangement of the mirrors limits the active medium a substantially rectangular shape in a plane defined by a large transverse axis and a longitudinal axis.

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