Ion laser having metal cylinders to confine the discharge

Claim 1

AN ION LASER COMPRISING: MEANS COMPRISING AN ENVELOPE FOR CONFINING A QUANTITY OF GAS WHICH IS CAPABLE OF POPULATION INVERSION IN AN IONIZED CONDITION; MEANS FOR ESTABLISHING A GAS DISCHARGE THROUGH SAID GAS; MEANS FOR MAINTAINING A SUFFICIENTLY HIGH CURRENT FLOW THROUGH SAID GAS TO IONIZE A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF SAID GAS AND TO ESTABLISH A POPULATION INVERSION OF COMPONENT IONS, THEREBY INITIATING THE STIMULATED EMISSION OF COHERENT OPTICAL RADIATION FROM AT LEAST PART OF THE COMPONENT IONS OF SAID GAS; MEANS FOR CONSTRAINING THE GAS DISCHARGE TO FOLLOW A LINEAR PATH PORTION COMPRISING AN ARRAY OF FLAT ELECTRICALLY AND THERMALLY CONDUCTION MEMBERS EACH HAVING A CENTRAL APERTURE AND BEING SUCCESSIVELY AND AXIALLY ARRANGED ALONG THE PATH PORTION; EACH OF SAID MEMBERS EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY TO THE INNER SURFACE OF THE ENVELOPE, THEREBY SEGMENTING THE VOLUME WITHIN THE ENVELOPE; AND EACH OF THE MEMBERS INCLUDING AN OPENING WHICH INTERCONNECTS THE TWO ADJACENT VOLUME SEGMENTS WHICH ARE SEPARATED BY THE MEMBER; THE OPENINGS IN SUCCESSIVE MEMBERS BEING LOCATED AT DIFFERENT ANGULAR POSITIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE LINEAR PATHS, WHEREBY SUCCESSIVE OPENINGS DESCRIBE A TORTUOUS GAS PATH FOR EQUALIZING GAS PRESSURE WITHIN THE ENVELOPE.