Method for supplying a laser or plasma with power, and plasma or laser system

A method for supplying a laser or a processing plasma in a discharge chamber with electrical power, the method comprising:

• providing a first power from an output terminal of a balanced amplifier to the discharge chamber, wherein the balanced amplifier comprises at least two amplifier paths, each respective amplifier path supplies a respective signal to a coupler, wherein the coupler has the output terminal and an isolation terminal and is configured such that the coupler combines the signals of the at least two amplifier paths as a function of a phase relationship between the signals and supplies a power as the first power to the output terminal and/or as a second power to the isolation terminal as a function of the phase relationship between the signals,
• setting a first phase relationship between the signals for a predefined time in order to carry out an ignition of the laser or of the plasma, and
• setting a second phase relationship different than the first phase relationship in order to operate the laser or to maintain the plasma in the discharge chamber, wherein
• the second phase relationship is set such that the coupler supplies substantially an entirety of the power to the output terminal as the first power and supplies substantially no power to the isolation terminal, and
• the first phase relationship is set such that the coupler supplies a portion of the power to the isolation terminal as the second power, and a third power reflected from the discharge chamber to the balanced amplifier is reflected back from the balanced amplifier to the discharge chamber in a proportion large enough for the ignition.