The United States of America as Represented by the United States

University of California

Xmr, Inc.

John L Miller

Lloyd A Hackel

Don G Ball

Clifford B Dane

William F Krupke

Daniel L Birx

Earl R Ault

Edward G Cook

Bruce E Warner

Luis E Zapata

Edward V George

An improved excimer laser is disclosed. In one embodiment, the laser includes laser beam generating circuitry operable to generate a laser beam and a vessel enclosing the laser beam generating circuitry. The vessel contains a volume of gas conducive to the formation of the laser beam by the laser beam generating circuitry. The vessel has a wall with a beam aperture formed therein to permit the laser beam generated by the laser beam generating circuitry to pass through it. A window mount assembly is attached to the wall of the vessel. The window mount assembly encloses a beam cavity and has a window that transmits the laser beam. The window is positioned at a first, closed end of the beam cavity. The beam cavity has a second, open end adjoining the beam aperture formed in the vessel wall. The beam cavity has a lateral surface extending between the first and second ends. A plenum lies outside the beam cavity. A gas handling system extracts the gas from the vessel and provides the gas to the plenum. A slot formed in the window mount assembly extends between the plenum and the lateral surface of the beam cavity. The slot forms a gas inlet aperture in the lateral surface of the beam cavity proximate to the first end of the beam cavity. The slot provides a flow of gas from the plenum to the beam cavity.

Excimer laser with improved window mount

The improved longitudinal discharge laser electrode with IR baffle includes an electrode made up of washers spaced along the laser axis in order to form inter-washer spaces for hollow cathode discharge to take place and for IR radiation to be trapped. Additional IR baffles can be placed between the electrode ann the window.

Longitudinal discharge laser electrodes

A three-stage magnetic modulator utilizing magnetic pulse compression designed to provide a 60 kV pulse to a copper vapor laser at a 4.5 kHz repetition rate is disclosed. This modulator operates at 34 kW input power. The circuit includes a step up auto transformer and utilizes a rod and plate stack construction technique to achieve a high packing factor.

High average power magnetic modulator for metal vapor lasers

A regenerative amplifier design capable of operating at high energy per pulse, for instance, from 20-100 Joules, at moderate repetition rates, for instance from 5-20 Hertz is provided. The laser amplifier comprises a gain medium and source of pump energy coupled with the gain medium; a Pockels cell, which rotates an incident beam in response to application of a control signal; an optical relay system defining a first relay plane near the gain medium and a second relay plane near the rotator; and a plurality of reflectors configured to define an optical path through the gain medium, optical relay and Pockels cell, such that each transit of the optical path includes at least one pass through the gain medium and only one pass through the Pockels cell. An input coupler, and an output coupler are provided, implemented by a single polarizer. A control circuit coupled to the Pockels cell generates the control signal in timed relationship with the input pulse so that the input pulse is captured by the input coupler and proceeds through at least one transit of the optical path, and then the control signal is applied to cause rotation of the pulse to a polarization reflected by the polarizer, after which the captured pulse passes through the gain medium at least once more and is reflected out of the optical path by the polarizer before passing through the rotator again to provide an amplified pulse.

High power regenerative laser amplifier

A pulse compression and prepulse suppression apparatus (10) for time compressing the output of a laser (14). A pump pulse (46) is separated from a seed pulse (48) by a first polarized beam splitter (20) according to the orientation of a half wave plate (18). The seed pulse (48) is directed into an SBS oscillator (44) by two plane mirrors (22, 26) and a corner mirror (24), the corner mirror (24) being movable to adjust timing. The pump pulse (46) is directed into an SBS amplifier 34 wherein SBS occurs. The seed pulse (48), having been propagated from the SBS oscillator (44), is then directed through the SBS amplifier (34) wherein it sweeps the energy of the pump pulse (46) out of the SBS amplifier (34) and is simultaneously compressed, and the time compressed pump pulse (46) is emitted as a pulse output (52). A second polarized beam splitter (38) directs any undepleted pump pulse 58 away from the SBS oscillator (44).

Pulse compression and prepulse suppression apparatus

Coupling apparatus for a large bore metal vapor laser is disclosed. The coupling apparatus provides for coupling high voltage pulses (approximately 40 KV) to a metal vapor laser with a high repetition rate (approximately 5 KHz). The coupling apparatus utilizes existing thyratron circuits and provides suitable power input to a large bore metal vapor laser while maintaining satisfactory operating lifetimes for the existing thyratron circuits.

Growing community of inventors

Livermore, CA, United States of America

John L Miller