Bifilar helical electrode arrangement for transversely exciting gaseous laser media

• US 4,370,598 A
• Filed: 09/24/1980
• Issued: 01/25/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Karl-Heinz Krahn
• Original Assignee: Karl-Heinz Krahn
• Inventors: Krahn, Karl-Heinz
• Primary Examiner(s): Sikes, William L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Scott, Jr., Leon
• Application Number:
  US06/190,367
• Time in Patent Office: 853 Days
• Field of Search: 372/87, 372/88, 372/83, 372/81
• US Class Current: 315/59
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/0387 Helical shape
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/0971 transversely excited H01S3/0975 takes precedence

Abstract

A bifilar helical electrode arrangement for the transverse gaseous laser media and particularly adapted to produce laser radiation in those gaseous laser media, such as nitrogen, which are characterized by an extremely short lifetime of the upper laser level. As a consequence of the electrode geometry, the invention favors the generation of laser beams exhibiting a circular symmetric beam cross section which can easily be focused using customary spherical optics. The invention incorporates intertwined helical anode and helical cathode structures together with capacitors that are connected to the helical electrode structure via low-resistance and low-inductance leads or are directly interposed between successive convolutions of that helical electrode structures.

Claims

1. A bifilar helical electrode arrangement for the transverse excitation of a gaseous laser medium disposed within a laser envelope, comprising a helical anode and a helical cathode extending along said laser envelope, a plurality of capacitors closely adjacent to and spaced along the lengths of said anode and said cathode, low resistance and low inductance leads connecting one terminal of each capacitor to said anode, low resistance and low inductance leads connecting the other terminal of each capacitor to said cathode, and a pulse generator connected between said anode and cathode for delivering high-voltage pulses to said capacitors in parallel.

2. The electrode arrangement of claim 1 characterized in that the capacitors are spaced equidistantly one from the other.

3. The electrode arrangement of claim 1 wherein said capacitors are interposed between successive convolutions of said helical anode and said helical cathode.

4. The electrode arrangement of claim 1 including pin electrodes extending from said anode and said cathode to the discharge gap of said envelope.

5. The electrode arrangement of claim 4 wherein successive pin electrodes on said anode and cathode are decoupled from each other by virtue of decoupling resistors.

6. The electrode arrangement of claim 1 wherein at least said anode is segmented into separate electrode sections each of which is provided with a capacitor connected to said pulse generator.

7. The electrode arrangement of claim 6 wherein each electrode section is connected to at least one pin electrode which extends to the discharge gap of said envelope.