Water-cooled carbon-dioxide laser
View Patent ↗A carbon dioxide waveguide-laser includes an elongated resonator compartment and an elongated power supply compartment. The resonator and power-supply compartments are separated by a water-cooled heat sink.
1. Laser apparatus, comprising:
an elongated, gas-filled resonator compartment including a laser-resonator unit;
an elongated radio-frequency (RF) power-supply compartment including a RF power-supply for energizing gas in the resonator unit; and
wherein the resonator and power-supply compartments are aligned parallel to each other and spatially separated by an elongated water-cooled heat-sink, and the resonator and power supply units are in thermal communication with the water-cooled heat sink wherein RF power-supply is assembled on a printed circuit board (PCB) and the resonator unit includes a ceramic plate having at least one waveguide-channel in a surface thereof for guiding a lasing mode of the laser, and wherein the PCB and the ceramic plate are in thermal communication with the heat-sink.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the gas in the resonator unit is a mixture of gases including carbon dioxide.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide-channeled surface of the ceramic plate of the resonator-unit faces the heat-sink.
4. Laser apparatus, comprising:
an elongated, gas-filled resonator compartment including a laser-resonator unit;
an elongated radio-frequency (RF) power-supply compartment including a RF power-supply for energizing gas in the resonator unit; and
wherein the resonator and power-supply compartments are aligned parallel to each other and spatially separated by an elongated water-cooled heat-sink, and the resonator and power supply units are in thermal communication with the water-cooled heat sink and wherein the heat-sink includes a serpentine conduit for flowing water through the heat-sink for cooling the heat-sink.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the serpentine conduit is in a plane in the heat-sink parallel to the power-supply and resonator compartments and closer to the power-supply compartment than to the resonator compartment.
6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the distances of the serpentine-conduit plane from the power-supply and resonator compartments are selected such that the laser apparatus is thermo-mechanically neutral.
7. Laser apparatus, comprising:
an elongated, gas filled resonator compartment including a laser-resonator unit;
an elongated radio-frequency (RF) power-supply compartment including a RF power-supply for energizing gas in the resonator unit;
wherein the resonator and power-supply compartments are aligned parallel to each other and spatially separated by an elongated water-cooled heat-sink, and the resonator and power supply units are in thermal communication with the water-cooled heat sink; and
wherein the heat-sink includes a serpentine channel for flowing water through the heat-sink for cooling the heat-sink with the serpentine channel in a plane about parallel to the resonator and power-supply compartments and closer to the power supply compartment than to the resonator compartment.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the distances of the serpentine channel plane from the power-supply and resonator compartments are selected such that the laser apparatus is thermo-mechanically neutral.
9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the gas in the resonator unit is a mixture of gases including carbon dioxide.
10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein RF power-supply is assembled on a printed circuit board (PCB) and the resonator unit includes a ceramic plate having at least one waveguide-channel in a surface thereof for guiding a lasing mode of the laser, and wherein the PCB and the ceramic plate are in thermal communication with the heat-sink.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the waveguide-channeled surface of the ceramic plate of the resonator-unit faces the heat-sink.
12. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said serpentine channel includes a plurality of longitudinally extending channels and a plurality of transverse channels providing communication between adjacent longitudinal channels and plugs positioned at various locations in the longitudinal and transverse channels in a manner to direct the flow in serpentine fashion.
13. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said serpentine channel includes a plurality of longitudinally extending conduits and wherein longitudinal conduits are mounted within the longitudinally channels and wherein said serpentine channel further includes a plurality of transverse conduits for fluidly connecting the longitudinal conduits.