Abstract:
A ribbon laser has a laser gas present between elongated electrodes, whose flat surfaces lie in pairs opposite one another. The laser contains a large number of electrode pairs and a respective narrow discharge chamber is formed between each of the pairs. The discharge chambers are optically intercoupled by folding reflectors and are positioned adjacent to one another in such a way that the central planes of the discharge chambers, running parallel to the flat surfaces of the electrodes, lie on a common plane. At least one waveguide is provided to guide the laser beam between the respective adjacent discharge chambers that are directly intercoupled.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This is a continuing application, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, of copending international application No. PCT/EP2004/000548, filed Jan. 23, 2004, which designated the United States; this application also claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, of German patent application No. 103 03 620.2, filed Jan. 30, 2003; the prior applications are herewith incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The invention relates to a slab or stripline laser such as is known, for example, from Published, European Patent Applications EP 0 275 023, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,639, and EP 0 305 893, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,738.  
         [0003]     In the case of these lasers, a laser gas is located between two-dimensionally extended electrodes situated opposite one another with their flat sides. Formed between the electrodes is a narrow discharge chamber in which the laser gas, in particular CO 2 , is excited by a high-frequency voltage applied to the electrodes. In order to achieve laser action, resonator mirrors are disposed opposite the end faces of the narrow discharge chamber formed by the electrodes.  
         [0004]     In the known stripline lasers, the heat input occurring during the gas discharge is dissipated by thermal conduction via the electrodes, generally formed of copper, such that a complicated gas circulation system is no longer required. Cooling laser gas by heat transfer to the electrodes cooled with water is sufficient with such stripline lasers, since the electrodes are relatively large in area and their mutual spacing, which is typically a few millimeters, is relatively small and so the volume of gas trapped between the electrodes is likewise relatively small in relation to the cooling area.  
         [0005]     The laser output power attainable with slab or stripline lasers is a function of the area of the electrodes, it being possible to produce approximately 1.5 watts to 2.0 watts per cm 2  electrode area. In order to be able to attain high output powers, there is a need for large-area electrodes which, however, because of their non-uniform heating, can no longer be held sufficiently parallel to one another. Since the inner flat sides, that is to say those directed to the gas or discharge chamber, are heated, and the outer flat sides are cooled, a high temperature gradient required for thermal dissipation is produced such that the mutually opposite flat sides of an electrode differ in their thermal expansion. This gives rise to bending moments, the effect of which is that the electrodes have a greater spacing from one another at their ends than in the middle. The distortion thereby produced in the electrodes worsens the laser performance, that is to say its mode stability and mode purity. Since the sag increases with increasing length of the electrodes, only laser output powers of a few hundred watts can be achieved with the known lasers.  
         [0006]     In order to attain laser output powers of the order of magnitude of a few kilowatts, it has therefore been proposed in International Patent Disclosure WO 94/15384 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,668) respectively to subdivide large-area electrodes into a number of sections that are spatially separated from one another at least over a part of their thickness, and are supported such that the movements, caused by thermal expansion, of their flat sides directed away from the discharge chamber are opposed only by negligible mechanical resistance. In this way, the curvature of the entire electrode is split into individual curvatures of the sections that, in turn, are so small per se that they no longer influence the operating behavior of the laser, or influence it only insubstantially. This permits the use of electrodes that are up to 1 m long and 0.5 m wide.  
         [0007]     In order to extract an even higher power, it would now be possible in principle to increase the dimensions of the electrodes as appropriate. However, such scaling is possible only conditionally. First, the production of very large electrodes with the accuracy required with regard to their planarity encounters limits in terms of production engineering. Second, for practical reasons it is reasonable to scale only in the longitudinal direction, since the required outlay on production for the resonator mirrors increases enormously with increasing transverse extent. However, scaling in the longitudinal direction leads, moreover, to a laser configuration with a longitudinal extent that is unsuitable in practice.  
         [0008]     In order to increase the output power of a gas laser, it is known, for example from East German Patent 128 966, to make use of conventional gas lasers in which the laser gas is disposed in a discharge tube of a so-called folded resonator for which purpose there are two or more gas discharge tubes disposed next to one another and coupled to one another by folding mirrors.  
         [0009]     Such a folded resonator configuration is also known for stripline lasers. Published, European Patent Application EP 0 305 893 A (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,738) or German Patent DE 196 45 093 C2 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,993) disclose folding configurations in which two or more discharge chambers are coupled to one another via folding mirrors and are disposed to be either parallel or at an acute angle to one another in such a way that the folding plane is oriented either perpendicular or at an acute angle to the flat sides of the discharge chamber. However, it has emerged in practice that it is possible using such folding to attain at most a slight increase in power which is in no way proportional to the discharge volume, it having been possible to observe even a worsening in power with such known foldings in unfavorable cases.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a stripline laser that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices of this general type, which is compact and it is possible to attain a higher output power with an acceptable design outlay.  
         [0011]     In the case of the stripline laser, a laser gas is located between two-dimensionally extended electrodes respectively situated opposite one another in pairs with their flat sides, a plurality of electrode pairs being provided between which a narrow discharge chamber is formed in each case. The discharge chambers are optically coupled to one another with the aid of folding mirrors and disposed next to one another in such a way that the central planes, extending parallel to the flat sides of the electrodes, of the discharge chambers lie in a common plane. At least one waveguide is provided for guiding the laser beam between the adjacent discharge chambers respectively coupled to one another directly.  
         [0012]     Since a stripline laser in accordance with these features is constructed from a plurality of relatively short electrode pairs that are disposed next to one another within a resonator and optically coupled to one another, the extractable laser output power can be multiplied in accordance with the number of electrode pairs used in conjunction with the same outlay in terms of production engineering and design. Since, the electrode pairs are disposed next to one another in such a way that the discharge path is folded in a central plane, running parallel to the electrodes, of the discharge chamber, and a waveguide is provided between the folding mirrors for guiding the light beam, the in-coupling and out-coupling losses can be distinctly reduced. This reduction is possible since the paths to be bridged on which the laser beam propagates freely can be of a very short design unlike in the case of the folding configurations known from the above-cited Published, European Patent Application EP 0 305 893 A2 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,738) and German Patent DE 196 45 093 C2 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,993), so as largely to avoid absorption of the laser beam by non-cooled, non-excited laser gas.  
         [0013]     In a particularly advantageous refinement of the invention, the waveguide is formed by mutually spaced-apart metal plates which are connected to a high-frequency voltage. Owing to this measure, the space in which the laser beam propagates between the folding mirrors is used as a laser-active discharge chamber, and contributes to a further rise in power.  
         [0014]     In a further advantageous embodiment, the waveguide is part of an electrode pair.  
         [0015]     Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.  
         [0016]     Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a stripline laser, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.  
         [0017]     The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]      FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic, plan view of a stripline laser in accordance with the invention of a flat side of electrodes;  
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a diagrammatic, cross-sectional view of a folding mirror taken along the line II-II shown in  FIG. 1 ; and  
         [0020]      FIGS. 3-5  are illustrations of further exemplary embodiments for the stripline laser in accordance with the invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0021]     Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to  FIG. 1  thereof, there is shown a stripline laser formed of two electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b  respectively containing two electrodes that are spaced apart from one another and extend in two dimensions, and of which only in each case the upper electrode is visible in the plan view in accordance with  FIG. 1 . Each of the electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b  defines a narrow, cuboidal discharge chamber  3   a ,  3   b  with long sides  4   a ,  4   b  and end faces  6   a ,  6   b , in which a laser gas LG is located. The discharge chambers  3   a ,  3   b  are disposed with their long sides  4   a  and  4   b  parallel to one another in such a way that the flat sides of their electrodes or the central plane of the discharge chambers  3   a ,  3   b  lie in a common plane parallel to the plane of the drawing.  
         [0022]     A curved resonator mirror  8   a ,  8   b  is disposed in each case opposite one of the end faces  6   a  of the electrode pair  2   a , and opposite the end face  6   b , adjacent thereto, of the electrode pair  2   b . The resonator mirror  8   a  serves as an out-coupling mirror, and the resonator mirror  8   b  serves as a reversing mirror. In the exemplary embodiment, the resonator mirrors  8   a ,  8   b  in the plane of the drawing form an unstable resonator of the negative branch, and a laser beam LS emerges from the resonator to the side of the resonator mirror  8   a . The concave curvature required for this purpose by the resonator mirrors  8   a ,  8   b  is illustrated schematically in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0023]     It is to be seen in  FIG. 1  that the electrodes of the electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b  in the exemplary embodiment each have two sections  20   a ,  22   a  and  20   b ,  22   b , which are separated from one another by grooves  24   a ,  24   b  in accordance with the way explained in International Patent Disclosure WO 94/15384 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,668) cited at the beginning. As an alternative thereto the sections  20   a  and  22   a  or  20   b  and  22   b , respectively, can be completely separated from one another by a gap.  
         [0024]     A plane folding mirror  26  is disposed opposite the respective end faces  6   a  and  6   b , averted from the resonator mirrors  8   a ,  8   b , of electrode pairs  2   a and  2   b , in each case at an angle of 45° to the end face  6   a  or  6   b . The laser beams respectively emerging from a discharge chamber  3   a  or  3   b  at the end faces  6   a  or  6   b  are coupled into the adjacent discharge chamber  3   b  or  3   a , respectively, with the aid of these folding mirrors  26 .  
         [0025]     In the exemplary embodiment, there is disposed between the folding mirrors  26  outside the discharge chambers  3   a  and  3   b  respectively formed by the electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b  an approximately trapezoidal flat hollow waveguide  30  in which the laser beams emerging from the discharge chamber  3   a  or  3   b  at the end faces  6   a ,  6   b  propagate parallel to the folding plane. The waveguide  30  is formed by flat metal plates which are spaced apart from one another and, in an advantageous refinement of the invention, are connected just like the electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b  to a high-frequency voltage HF such that the laser gas LG located between them can be used as a laser-active medium and can contribute to the laser power. Just like the electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b , the metal plates of the waveguide  30  are also cooled whenever they are not connected to a high-frequency voltage HF. The distance between the waveguide  30  and the electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b  as well as between the waveguide  30  and the folding mirrors  26  should be as small as possible and not exceed a few mm. Values in the range of 3-4 mm have proved to be suitable in practice.  
         [0026]     It is also possible in principle for the electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b  to be advanced up to the folding mirrors  26  so that the waveguide  30  is formed by mutually adjacent triangular sections of the electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b , as is illustrated in  FIG. 1  by dashes. It is then necessary in this exemplary embodiment for the electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b  to be disposed with their long sides  4   a ,  4   b  close to one another, in order to minimize in-coupling losses.  
         [0027]     In accordance with  FIG. 2 , instead of plane folding mirrors  26  it is also possible to use folding mirrors  26  whose surface  28  has a curved contour in a planar section perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, in order to focus the laser beams into the adjacent discharge chamber.  
         [0028]     A configuration of two electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b  is illustrated in  FIG. 1 . However, in principle it is also possible to dispose more than two electrode pairs next to one another, as is illustrated in the exemplary embodiment in accordance with  FIG. 3  with the aid of a configuration having three electrode pairs  2   a - 2   c  and discharge chambers  3   a - 3   c  respectively assigned to these. In this configuration, as well, the discharge chambers  3   a - c  are disposed with their long sides  4   a - 4   c  parallel next to one another. Respectively adjacent electrode pairs  2   a ,  2   b  and  2   b ,  2   c , respectively, are optically coupled to one another in this case by folding mirrors  26  assigned to these in pairs, the resonator mirrors  8   a  and  8   c  being disposed only at the end faces  6   a  and  6   c  of the external electrode pairs  3   a  and  3   c.    
         [0029]     Illustrated in the exemplary embodiment in accordance with  FIG. 4  is a folding in which the electrode pairs  2   a - 2   c  and the waveguides  30  build up a triangular discharge path. In this case, as well, the waveguides  30  disposed in the case of the folding mirrors  26  are formed by electrodes and are supplied with the same high-frequency voltage HF as the electrode pairs  2   a - 2   c  such that the laser-active volume, that is to say the space in which a gas discharge takes place, reaches beyond the discharge chamber  3   a - 3   c  formed in each case by the electrode pairs  2   a - 2   c  as far as into the immediate vicinity of the folding mirrors  26 , and passive paths are largely avoided in the case of the propagation of the laser beam LS in the interior of the resonator. A further exemplary embodiment is illustrated in  FIG. 5  where the discharge chambers  3   a - 3   d  formed by the electrode pairs  2   a - 2   d  are coupled together with the waveguides  30  to form a square or rectangular discharge path.  
         [0030]     In the exemplary embodiments in accordance with FIGS.  2  to  5 , as well, the waveguides  30  can be an integral component of the electrode pairs and can, for their part, be split again into smaller sections by grooves, as is illustrated for the electrode pairs  2   c  ( FIG. 4 ) and  2   d  ( FIG. 5 ).