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US4257014A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Gas laser discharge tube using corrugated cathode

Assignee: Kimmon Electric Co Ltd
•
Filing: 1978-12-06
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Granted: 1981-03-17
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Expires: 1998-12-06
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Abstract

Abstract A gas laser discharge tube comprises a discharge vessel containing a discharge gas, a rod-shaped anode, a corrugated cathode and a voltage source connected between the anode and cathode. The corrugated cathode comprises a metal hollow cylinder arranged coaxially with the optical axis of the laser and a plurality of metal discs arranged coaxially with the optical axis of the laser at regular intervals in the axial direction of the metal hollow cylinder. The discs have their peripheries secured to the inner periphery of the metal hollow cylinder. Each disc has a central hole and another hole through which the anode extends parallel to the optical axis of the laser.

Inventors

  • 👤 Shuzo Hattori
  • 👤 Noboru Kamide
  • 👤 Katumi Tokudome
  • 👤 Michio Ishikawa
  • 👤 Yuzi Hayashi

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-29 23:24
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01S; H01S3/00; H01S3/02; H01S3/03; H01S3/038; H01S3/032

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 114 words
A gas laser system comprising: a generally tubular discharge vessel filled with a discharge gas for producing a laser active medium to be excited by discharge; an optical cavity for amplifying stimulated emissions transmitted from said laser active medium, the optical cavity defining an optical axis; a plurality of discharge cathodes in said discharge vessel, each comprising a corrugated hollow cylinder through which runs said optical axis; a plurality of discharge anodes each having a plurality of anodic surfaces, each anodic surface being located between two adjacent corrugations of the discharge cathode; and a power source for applying voltage between each discharge cathode and the adjacent discharge anode to thereby achieve gas laser discharge.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 114 words
A gas laser system comprising: a generally tubular discharge vessel filled with a discharge gas for producing a laser active medium to be excited by discharge; an optical cavity for amplifying stimulated emissions transmitted from said laser active medium, the optical cavity defining an optical axis; a plurality of discharge cathodes in said discharge vessel, each comprising a corrugated hollow cylinder through which runs said optical axis; a plurality of discharge anodes each having a plurality of anodic surfaces, each anodic surface being located between two adjacent corrugations of the discharge cathode; and a power source for applying voltage between each discharge cathode and the adjacent discharge anode to thereby achieve gas laser discharge.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 47 words
A gas laser system according to claim 1, wherein the corrugations of each of said discharge cathodes have holes coaxially aligned with one another and each of said discharge anodes is a metal rod extending through said holes in parallel to the optical axis of the laser.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 45 words
A gas laser system according to claim 1, wherein each of said discharge cathodes has a plurality of holes and each of said discharge anodes includes a plurality of pins which exdend through said holes into the spaces among the corrugations of the discharge cathode.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 69 words
A gas laser system according to claim 1, wherein the corrugations of each of said discharge cathodes have holes coaxially aligned with one another and each of said discharge anodes comprises metal rod extending through said holes in parallel to the optical axis of the laser and a plurality of metal rings supported by the metal rod and arranged in the spaces among the corrugations of the discharge cathode.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 84 words
A gas laser system according to claim 1, wherein the width w of a space between any two adjacent corrugations of each discharge cathode is smaller than the inner diameter D of the corrugations and more than twice as large as a cathode dark space length d(j) at a given current density j, d(j) being expressed as follows: d(j)=(1.25/A·p) ln[1+(1/r.sub.eff (j))], where A denotes Townsend's A-coefficient, p the pressure of discharge gas and r eff (j) the charge regeneration coefficient at current density j.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 60 words
A gas laser system according to claim 2, wherein between each anode and the holes of the corrugations there is provided a gap g which is smaller than a cathode dark space length d(0), which is expressed as follows: d(0)=(1.25/A·p) ln[1+(1+r.sub.eff (0))], where A denotes Townsend's A-coefficient, p the pressure of discharge gas and r eff the charge regeneration coefficient.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 39 words
A gas laser system according to claim 1, wherein each discharge cathode and each discharge anode comprise an electrode stage, thereby providing a plurality of electrode stages which are arranged in said discharge vessel coaxially with said optical axis.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 84 words
A gas laser system according to claim 7, wherein said discharge gas is a mixture gas including a heavy atom vapor supplied from a metal reservoir provided at one end of said discharge vessel, and a voltage is supplied from said power source to said discharge cathodes so as to cause potential difference between any adjacent two discharge cathodes, whereby the heavy atom vapor flows from one cathode to another by virtue of cataphoresis effect obtained by an electric field along said optical axis.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 16 words
A gas laser system according to claim 1, wherein said discharge vessel comprises a glass envelope.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 30 words
A gas laser system according to claim 1, wherein said discharge vessel comprises a metal-ceramic vessel comprising a plurality of metal hollow cylinders and a plurality of ceramic hollow cylinders.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3582817A Cited
US3868593A Cited
US4031428A Cited
US4105954A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1984-03-16 1984-09-15 1985-03-17 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1988-03-16 1988-09-15 1989-03-17 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1992-03-16 1992-09-15 1993-03-17 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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