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OwnerJames C. Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, with respect to an invention of Fletcher, Charles Elachiinventors
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For use in a waveguide gas laser a capillary tube of glass or ceramic has an inner surface defining a longitudinal capillary opening through which the laser gas flows. At least a portion of the inner surface is corrugated with corrugations or channels with a periodicity .LAMBDA. where .LAMBDA. = 1/2.lambda., .lambda. being the laser gas wavelength. The tube includes a diffused region extending outwardly from the opening. The diffused region of a depth d on the order of 1.lambda. to 3.lambda. acts as a waveguide for the waves, with the corrugations producing distributed feedback. The evanescent component of the waves travelling in the diffused region interact with the laser gas in the opening, gaining energy therefrom, and thereby amplifying the waves travelling in the diffused region, which exit the diffused region, surrounding the opening, as a beam of wavelength .lambda..
For use in a waveguide gas laser, a tube structure comprising:
In a gas laser of the type including a capillary tube defining an elongated capillary opening formed by an inner surface of said tube, said opening providing a path for the gas which lases therein to provide a laser beam at a wavelength .lambda., the tube being characterized with at least a portion of the inner surface being corrugated by corrugations with a periodicity .LAMBDA., where 2.LAMBDA. = q.lambda., q being an integer to provide distributed feedback in said tube, the tube material being characterized by an index of refraction definable as n.sub.2 with the index of refraction in said opening being definable as n.sub.1 = 1, the improvement comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.