Patent ID: 6567451
Filing Date: 2003-05-20
Classification: H01S

Abstract:
An excimer or molecular fluorine laser, comprising:a laser chamber filled with a gas mixture and including a heat exchanger and fan for circulating the gas mixture within the chamber; a pulser module powered by a high voltage power supply; a plurality of electrodes within the laser chamber connected to the pulser module for energizing the gas mixture; a gas handling module coupled to the laser chamber for filling and injecting one or more components of the gas mixture into the laser chamber; and a resonator including said discharge chamber and one or more line-narrowing optics for generating an output laser beam, wherein the resonator includes an interferometer including a pair of opposing reflecting surfaces configured so that the interferometer is tuned to have a response maximum at a selected wavelength around approximately a primary spectral maximum of the beam incident upon the interferometer, and at least one sideband of the response spectrum of the interferometer is also within the spectrum of the beam incident upon the interferometer, and wherein said first and second opposing reflecting surfaces have an optical distance, nÂ·d, therebetween over at least a portion of said incident beam cross-section, such that said sideband corresponding to a different spectral maximum than said primary spectral maximum is suppressed due to said optical distance being varied, thereby suppressing said at least one sideband around said response maximum to improve spectral purity.