A gas laser having a vacuum-tight discharge tube characterized by the discharge tube consisting of a glass cylinder whose two ends are closed by metal caps. Each of the metal caps support a mirror member which is connected to a transition member by a glass solder connection. A laser capillary which is made of glass has one end fused to the glass cylinder and has its other end supported by a spring which consists of a material which has a high heat resistance and may be hardened after assembly with the laser capillary and discharge tube. The laser capillary has a portion surrounded by a cold cathode which is disposed in the interior of the discharge tube and consists of a rolled sheet of resilient metal which tightly engages the inner surface of the discharge tube due to its own resilient spring force.
A shock-proof gas discharge laser device comprises a cylindrical discharge vessel secured coaxially in a metal tubular holder. The cylindrical discharge vessel is sealed at its two ends with sealed metal end plates provided with supports for multilayer reflectors. The metal end plates are centered in beaker-shaped insulator caps which surround the end plates. The cylinder surface of the caps extend at least partly within the metal tubular holder in contact therewith. The electrical connections of the gas discharge laser are provided in said caps.
A gas discharge laser comprising a glass cylindrical discharge vessel having at least one end sealed by means of a metal cap provided at its center with a reflector body and in which a metal exhaust tube is connected eccentrically to the cap. By forming the metal cap in the shape of a truncated cone and providing the metal exhaust tube in the conical surface therof, a gas discharge laser having a high degree of directional stability is obtained.
A method of manufacturing gas lasers, such as He-Ne lasers or Ar lasers characterized by positioning the laser housing within a vacuum chamber, evacuating the vacuum chamber to evacuate the laser housing through a filling tube provided in the housing, baking the housing, then filling the vacuum chamber with the laser gas, which enters into the laser housing through the filling tube, subsequently forming a solder closure in the end of the sealing tube, the removing the laser housing from the vacuum chamber and subsequently permanently sealing the filling tube by pinching off the solder closure to form a cold-weld seal of the tube.
A gas laser includes a glass bulb, end-face end pieces of sintered glass, a laser capillary, and mirror mounts fused to one another by glass solder. A method is also disclosed for manufacturing such gas laser, which is particularly suited for lasers of high light yield with high thermal stability.
A thermal structure and cooling system for an argon-ion laser that is virtually free of thermal asymmetries includes a laser cathode having a housing constructed of a material of high thermal conductivity and relatively low thermal expansion in conjunction with a cooling structure configuration which readily and uniformly dissipates heat. In a specific embodiment the support structure is fabricated of copper material of at least a minimal thickness and the cooling fins are disposed in one and two stages of radial fins at specified regions along the support structure forming the discharge tube and enclosed by a tubular thermally conductive band.
