Orthogonally excited-type laser oscillator

#1) Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to an orthogonally excited-type laser oscillator which has a structure capable of stably maintaining the output of a laser beam and the quality of a beam mode, by keeping a constant positional relation such as parallelism or imperfect alignment of a pair of optical resonators even if an oscillator case is deformed due to heat.

#2) Description of the Related Art

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view which shows the whole of an orthogonally excited-type laser oscillator according to a first embodiment of this invention,

#FIG. 2 is a front view of the oscillator according to the first embodiment,

#FIG. 3 is a perspective view which shows how coupling members are coupled in the oscillator according to the first embodiment,

#Embodiments of the orthogonally excited-type laser oscillator according to this invention will be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

#A first embodiment of this invention will be explained below. FIG. 1 is a perspective view which shows the whole of the first embodiment of the oscillator according to this invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the oscillator. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are schematic diagrams which show a specific state of the first embodiment of the oscillator. FIG. 3 is a diagram which shows the coupling state of a coupling member provided between an oscillator case and an optical base. FIG. 4 is a diagram which schematically shows the state of coupling the oscillator case and the optical bases by the coupling members. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are schematic views which show the thermally deformed oscillator case. FIG. 7 to FIG. 9 are diagrams which show the specific states of the coupling member when the oscillator case is thermally deformed. FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are front view near the front optical base, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view which shows the appearance when the coupling member is deformed about the Z axis. In the explanation below, the direction of optical axis of the laser beam is designated as Y axis, the height direction perpendicular to the optical axis is designated as Z axis, and the direction perpendicular to the Y axis and the Z axis is designated as X axis.

#The oscillator case 1 has a sealed structure in which a laser medium gas such as a CO2 gas is sealed. Though not shown, a discharge electrode for generating the laser beam, a heat exchanger for cooling the laser medium gas, and a blower for circulating the laser medium gas are provided inside the oscillator case 1. End plates 18 and 28 are provided at the opposite ends of the oscillator case 1 in the direction of optical axis so as to protrude from the upper face of the oscillator case 1.