Patent ID: 6553050
Filing Date: 2003-04-22
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 a pair of resonator reflector elements and a transmissive interferometer including a pair of opposing reflecting surfaces configured so that the interferometer is tuned to have a transmissivity maximum at a selected wavelength around approximately an intensity maximum of the beam incident upon the interferometer, and at least one sideband of the transmissivity spectrum of the interferometer is also within the intensity spectrum of the beam incident upon the interferometer, the interferometer being aligned at an angle within the resonator so that the beam reflected from the interferometer is reflected outside of an acceptance angle of the resonator, the interferometer being disposed between said pair of resonator reflector surfaces; and wherein said first and second opposing reflecting surfaces have an optical distance, nÂ·d, therebetween which is varied over at least a portion of said incident beam cross-section thereby suppressing said at least one sideband around said transmissivity maximum due to said reflection outside said acceptance angle of said resonator to provide an output beam at high spectral purity.