Gas Discharge Laser

The invention relates to a gas discharge laser comprising a laser capillary located within a tubular glass envelope, which envelope comprises at its two ends reflectors having optical axes which coincide with the axis of the laser capillary and which reflectors together constitute the laser resonator, a Brewster window being mounted in said envelope immediately before one of the reflectors.

Such a gas discharge laser is known from German Patent Application No. 2,343,140 laid open to public inspection, which gas discharge laser comprises at one end of the laser capillary near one of the reflectors a wide bore in which a hollow cylinder is placed and against which a Brewster window is clamped to obtain a polarized laser beam. The reflectors of said laser also serve as a seal of the discharge space so that a simple laser forming one assembly is obtained. However, the provision of a wide bore in the laser capillary is very laborious and thus is not entirely suitable for mass production.

It is an object of the invention to provide a much simpler alternative for the connection of the Brewster window in a laser so that it remains possible nevertheless to very accurately position the Brewster window.

Another object of the invention is to provide a holder which produces substantially no mechanical stresses in the Brewster window.

A gas discharge laser of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph is characterized according to the invention in that the Brewster window is placed in a holder which is manufactured from metal sheet material and in which one major surface of the Brewster window is resiliently urged against three regions of engagement on the holder.

A metal holder can be manufactured in a very simple manner from metal sheet material in which the desired apertures and incisions can be provided very accurately by means of known methods, such as etching, spark erosion, and the like. In this manner three accurately positioned points of engagement can be obtained in a simple manner. A first preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the holder is manufactured from a metal strip and has a U-shape as a result of bending the ends of the strip. The Brewster window is clamped between the two limbs of the U-shaped holder, said limbs having two substantially elongate apertures in which a part of the edge of the Brewster window falls. At least one resilient strip extends into at least one of the elongate apertures and forces one side of the Brewster window against three points of engagement in the elongate aperture.

In this manner an accurate positioning of the Brewster window is obtained in a simple and cheap manner. If the part of the holder situated between the two limbs of the holder intersects the axis of the laser, it should be provided with an aperture for passing the generated laser beam.

A second preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the holder consists of two portions, a U-shaped base portion having the three points of engagement against which one side of the Brewster window engages and a clamping portion which is clamped to the base portion and has an aperture in which a few resilient lugs extend which press against the other side of the Brewster window so that one side of the Brewster window is forced against the points of engagement.

Preferably three resilient lugs extend into the aperture in the clamping portion, which lugs exert pressure on the Brewster window opposite to the points of engagement because in that case no mechanical stresses are caused in the Brewster window. Mechanical stresses result in a disturbance of the preferential polarization of the Brewster window. The holder may be secured to the end plate of the gas discharge laser. However, it is alternatively possible to secure the holder to the cathode situated coaxially in the envelope or to the laser capillary.

A preferred embodiment of a gas discharge laser in which the holder is connected to the cathode is characterized in that a few centering springs extend from the holder in the direction of the inner wall of the envelope, said centering springs forming one assembly with the holder.

The invention will be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a gas discharge laser according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of the laser shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of a laser according to the invention in which the holder is secured to the cathode,

FIG. 4 is a developed view of a possible embodiment of a holder for the Brewster window,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a Brewster window holder in a broken-away end of a gas discharge laser according to the invention,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second possible embodiment of a holder,

FIGS. 7 and 8 are developed views of the holder shown in FIG. 6,

FIG. 9 shows a modified embodiment of the holder shown in FIG. 6,

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a holder secured to the cathode and forming one assembly with the centering springs of the cathode,

FIG. 11 is a developed view of a holder with centering springs shown in FIG. 10,

FIGS. 12a and b are a longitudinal sectional view and an elevation, respectively, of a holder of the kind shown in FIG. 4 secured to the laser capillary, and

FIG. 13 is a developed view of the holder shown in FIGS. 12a and 12b.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a He-Ne gas discharge laser according to the invention. This laser comprises a glass envelope 1 which is partly sealed at its two ends by means of metal plates 2 and 3 each having central apertures 4 and 5, respectively. Metal tubular supports 6 and 7 to which the reflector holders 8 and 9 are secured extend from the central apertures. Multilayer reflectors 10 and 11, which together with the laser capillary 12 constitute the laser resonator, are secured to said reflector holders. As described in the aforesaid German patent application, one of said reflectors may be partially transmissive to laser light so as to provide an output from the laser. Furthermore a cylindrical cathode 13 is provided in the envelope of the laser and extends coaxially in the envelope. Metal plate 2 serves as an anode. In order to obtain polarized light from the laser, a Brewster window 14, located in a holder 15 according to the invention, is provided near the reflector 11. The shape of the holder will be described in greater detail with reference to the following figures.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of the gas discharge laser shown in FIG. 1. The holder 15 is U-shaped and has two limbs 16 and 17 which have been obtained by bending the ends of a metal strip, and includes a connection part 18 therebetween. The Brewster window 14 is clamped between the limbs 16 and 17. The connection part 18 is secured against the metal plate 3.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of a laser according to the invention in which the U-shaped holder is secured to the cathode 13 by means of the strips 19.

FIG. 4 is a developed view of a holder as shown with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The holder is manufactured from 1 mm thick resilient steel sheet (for example from N 939 steel). The aperture 22 has resilient strips 23, 24 and 25 extending into the aperture and a point of engagement 26. Aperture 27 has two inclined sides 28 and two points of engagement 29 and 30. The resilient strips 23 and 24 and the inclined sides 28 force one side of the Brewster window unambiguously against the three points of engagement 26, 29 and 30. In this manner a very accurate positioning is obtained without introducing stresses in the Brewster window. It will be obvious that the pressure strips and the points of engagement may also be constructed differently and may be present in other places in the apertures 22 and 27. The gist of the invention is that one side of the Brewster window is pressed against three points of engagement by means of resilient elements.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the holder shown in FIG. 4. The reference numerals of the various components correspond to those of the preceding figures.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a holder for the Brewster window. This holder consists of a base portion 31 which is made from a metal strip, has the form of a U, and is provided with three points of engagement 32, 33 and 34 on which the Brewster window is placed. The Brewster window is forced against the points of engagement by means of a clamping portion 35 which is also in the form of a U and which has an aperture 36 in which resilient lugs 37, 38 and 39 extend. The bent portion 40 is hooked in the recesses 42 and the bent portion 41 is hooked in the recesses 43 of the base member 31. It will be obvious that the connection of the clamping portion to the base portion may also be done differently, for example, as is shown in FIG. 9. The Brewster window (not shown) is forced against the points of engagement 32, 33 and 34 by the resilient lugs which may be bent out of the plane of the clamping member. By causing said pressure to take place opposite to the points of engagement, no moments are exerted on the Brewster window so that even less deformation of the Brewster window occurs. It will be obvious that such a holder can be secured either to the metal plate 3 or to the cathode 13 (see FIG. 1). The aperture 44 passes the generated laser beam.

FIG. 7 is a developed view of the clamping portion 35 of FIG. 6 and FIG. 8 is a developed view of the base portion 31 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of a holder as shown in FIG. 6. For clarity, components having the same functions are referred to by the same reference numerals as those used in FIG. 6. The clamping portion 35 has two projections 47 and 48 which fit into the apertures 49 and 50 in the base portion 31. The end 51 of the clamping portion 35 is locked behind inwardly bent strips 52 so that one side of the Brewster window is forced against the points of engagement 32, 33 and 34 by the resilient lugs 37, 38 and 39.

FIG. 10 shows how lugs extending from the holder 45 may be constructed as centering springs.

FIG. 11 shows how the centering springs 46 and the holder 45 can be manufactured from one piece of sheet material. The broken lines indicate where the metal is bent to form the shape shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12a is a longitudinal sectional view and FIG. 12b is an elevation of a holder 54 of the type shown in FIG. 4 secured to a laser capillary 53. The Brewster window 55 is provided opposite to the end of the discharge channel 57. Channel 56 is a transverse bore which is provided so as to prevent the discharge from occurring too close along the Brewster window 55.

FIG. 13 is a developed view of a holder of the type shown in FIGS. 12a and 12b. The lugs 58 fit into the apertures 59. The lug 60 positions the holder in the axial direction relative to the laser capillary 53. The holder is folded along the broken lines 61.