Mitigating long-term energy decay of laser devices
An apparatus for manufacturing semiconductors includes a power amplifier to power a laser, a catalyst disposed in the power amplifier, an inlet port, and an exhaust port. The inlet port introduces a mixing gas to an interior of the power amplifier during a cleaning operation so that the mixing gas contacts a surface of the catalyst having a build-up thereon. The mixing gas reacts with and removes the build-up by generating gaseous by-products. The exhaust port removes the gaseous by-products from the power amplifier.
1 . An apparatus for processing a semiconductor device, comprising:
a power amplifier having a catalyst disposed in the power amplifier;
an inlet configured to supply a gas to the power amplifier during a cleaning operation so that the gas contacts a surface of the catalyst having a build-up thereon,
whereby the gas reacts with and removes the build-up by generating gaseous by-products; and
an exhaust configured to remove the gaseous by-products from the power amplifier.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , where the power amplifier is for a laser generator.
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst comprises a gold surface.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an inlet port coupled to a supply for introducing the gas to an interior of the power amplifier.
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the power amplifier is configured to power a CO 2 gas laser.
6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising circuitry configured to control the cleaning operation, wherein the power amplifier comprises a plurality of power amplifiers arranged in sequential stages.
7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the circuitry is configured to introduce the gas to each power amplifier separately.
8 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the circuitry is configured to introduce the gas to each power amplifier sequentially.
9 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the circuitry is configured to introduce the gas to each power amplifier at substantially the same time.
10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the power amplifier has a separate dedicated inlet and exhaust.
11 . A method comprising:
supplying a mixing gas to an interior of a power amplifier for a laser, the power amplifier having a catalyst;
reacting the mixing gas with contaminants present on a surface of the catalyst to produce gaseous by-products; and
evacuating the gaseous by-products from the power amplifier.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising providing a filter having a water supply for receiving the gaseous by-products from an exhaust port of the power amplifier, whereby the water supply removes the mixing gas.
13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the mixing gas is introduced to the power amplifier for at least one hour after every seventh day of operation of the laser.
14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the surface of the catalyst comprises a layer of gold.
15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the mixing gas comprises a hydrogen-doped argon gas.
16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the mixing gas comprises hydrogen (H 2 ), the contaminants comprise silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) and a reaction of the mixing gas and the contaminants proceeds according to:
17 . A method for processing a power amplifier of a laser, comprising:
supplying a gas into the power amplifier during processing of the power amplifier, the power amplifier having a catalyst;
generating gaseous by-products by reaction of the gas with contamination build-up on a surface of the catalyst; and
removing the gas and the gaseous by-products from the power amplifier after processing the power amplifier.
18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising compensating for a power loss by boosting a power of the power amplifier to re-establish a full laser power.
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the gas comprises a hydrogen-doped argon gas.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the gas comprises X weight percent argon and 100-X weight percent of hydrogen (H 2 ), where X is a number that is greater than one and less than 100.