US Patent:
20010050939, Dec 13, 2001
Inventors:
Richard Ujazdowski - San Diego CA, US
Michael Cates - Escondido CA, US
Richard Morton - San Diego CA, US
Jean-Marc Hueber - La Jolla CA, US
Ross Winnick - San Diego CA, US
International Classification:
H01S003/22
H01S003/223
Abstract:
A gas discharge laser having a laser chamber with two elongated erodable electrode elements, at least one of said electrode element having a generally blunt blade-shaped portion comprised of a material having high electrical conductivity with a flow shaping dielectric fairing positioned on each of two sides of said blunt blade-shaped portion. A pulse power system provides electrical pulses at rates of at least 1 KHz. A blower circulates laser gas between the electrodes at speeds of at least 10 m/s and a heat exchanger is provided to remove heat produced by the blower and the discharges.