JPS62106681A - Gas laser oscillator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a laser medium progress as a convolute flow and realize a stable and high-output discharge by a method wherein a supply tube is connected slantly to a discharge tube and the diameter of the supply tube is selected to be smaller than a half of the diameter of the discharge tube. CONSTITUTION:A tube wit a diameter smaller than a half of the diameter of a discharge tube 3 is sued as a supply tube 7 and both ends of the supply tube 7 ate connected to the discharge tube 3 in such a manner that the end of the supply tube 3 is inclined relative to the axis of the discharge tube 3 toward the side of a linking tube 8 and the axis of the tube 3 and the axis of the tube 7 do not coincide with each other. When a gas laser medium, circulated by a blower 9 flows into the tube 3 from the tube 7 while a laser oscillation is induced by a resonance between a total reflection mirror 1 and an output mirror 2, the gas laser medium spouted out from the two ends of the tube 7 hits the upper part of the inside wall of the tube 3 slantly and progresses toward the tube 8 as a convolute flow because the axis of the tube 3 and the axis of the tube are connected together in a twisted relation.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field of invention] The present invention relates to a so-called axial flow type gas laser oscillation device.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

In so-called axial flow gas laser oscillators, which have a configuration in which the optical axes are aligned, devices have been devised to make the flow of the gas laser medium in the discharge tube a turbulent or swirling flow for the purpose of stabilizing the discharge and inputting large amounts of power. . Regarding turbulent flow, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-56782 discloses a configuration in which fins or slits are provided to generate turbulent flow, or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-22387 discloses a configuration using a fan. be. In addition, regarding the swirling flow, JP-A-60-
In Publication No. 28285, a part of the discharge tube is made thicker discontinuously,
A configuration is disclosed in which the gas laser medium is supplied tangentially. The former type of turbulence caused by fins and fans causes turbulence by creating a pressure difference before and after a slit, which inevitably increases pressure loss and increases the size of the circulation pump, but it is also difficult to avoid. In the case of the swirling flow of a person, since an enlarged part is formed in the discharge tube part, there is a problem that it does not contribute in any way to the gas flow velocity in the axial direction that coincides with the laser oscillation optical axis. The object of the present invention is to provide a gas laser blinding device that can obtain a single lightning strike and a large amount of power input by means of a simple construction trap.

[Summary of the invention]

A supply tube for supplying a gas laser medium to the wall of the discharge tube is connected to the wall of the discharge tube so that the supplied gas laser medium travels along with a swirling flow within the discharge tube, thereby achieving the above object.

[Embodiments of the invention]

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

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, which has a discharge tube (3) with a total reflection mirror (1) and an output mirror (2) that form an optical resonator attached to both ends of the discharge tube (1). There is a cathode (4) inside the
A pair of discharge electrodes are provided at a predetermined distance from the anode (5). Discharge voltages yi and +61 are connected to the discharge '1 pole, respectively, so that two discharge portions are formed within the discharge tube (3). In addition, discharge tubes (
3) U-shaped supply pipes (7) are installed on the pipe walls at both ends.
Both ends of the supply tube (3) are connected, and the supply tube (c) is connected to the communication tube (3) connected to the center of the discharge tube (3) between the discharge electrodes.
8) to form a two-way circulation flow path.

The communication tube (8) K is provided with a blower (9) for the gas laser medium enclosed in the discharge tube (3), etc., and a pair of heat exchangers (10) for cooling the gas laser medium with this blower (9) in between. There is.

By the way, the supply tube (7) is a tube body with a diameter less than half the diameter of the discharge tube (3), and its both ends are shown in the same figure and 'jf, 2, with respect to the axis of the discharge tube (3). As shown in FIG. The medium is excited at three discharge parts, and the laser beam is emitted by the resonance action between the total reflection mirror (1) and the output mirror (2), and the laser beam is emitted from the output mirror (2) in the axial direction of the discharge tube (3). (
L) is output. During the above laser oscillation, the blower (9)
When the gas laser medium circulated by flows into the discharge tube (3) from the supply tube (7), the gas laser medium circulates between the discharge tube (3) and the supply tube (3).
Since the axis of e (7) is connected in a twisted relationship, the gas laser medium ejected from both ends of the supply tube (force) is inclined toward the upper side of the inner wall surface of the discharge tube (3) in the figure. As shown by the broken lines in the figure, the current flows toward the communication tube (8) while rotating.The swirling flow thus formed flows from the tube end of the discharge tube (3). Naturally, the flow velocity is slightly lower than when the gas laser medium travels straight in the coaxial direction, but since the supply tube and the discharge tube are directly connected, the decrease in flow velocity is small and the flow velocity of the gas laser medium is maintained at a high speed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-28285 mentioned in the explanation of the prior art, since an enlarged part for forming a swirling flow is provided between the supply tube and the discharge tube, there is no flow from the supply tube. Since the flow velocity of the exiting gas laser medium is significantly weakened by the pressure drop in this enlarged portion, the flow velocity of the swirling flow of the gas laser medium flowing inside the discharge tube is significantly reduced. On the other hand, in the present application, as described above, the decrease in flow velocity is slight.

In addition to the effect of making the discharge 7 constant by increasing the discharge excitation volume of the gas laser medium due to the swirling flow, we were able to achieve high laser oscillation output because inexpensive power could be input to the gas laser medium.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a sectional view cut along the AA line in the figure. (3)...discharge tube, (4)...cathode, (5)...
-・Anode. (6)...For discharge! l! ! (7)...Supply management agent Patent attorney Nori Chika L Yudo Takehana Hirohisa

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a gas laser oscillation device comprising a discharge tube and a supply tube for supplying a gas laser medium to the discharge tube, the flow of the gas laser medium in the discharge tube and the laser oscillation optical axis are aligned, and the supply tube is the supply tube. A gas laser oscillation device characterized in that an extension axis is obliquely connected to a tube wall of a discharge tube without having an intersection with the axis of the discharge tube. (2) The gas laser oscillation device according to claim 1, wherein the supply tube has a diameter that is at least 1/2 of the diameter of the discharge tube at least at the connection portion with the discharge tube.