Gas discharge laser long life electrodes

A gas discharge laser comprising:

• A) a laser chamber containing a laser gas,
• B) two elongated electrodes disposed within said laser chamber, at least one of said electrodes being an erodable electrode means disposed within said laser chamber for supporting electric discharges, said erodable electrode means having an erodable section and an electrode support, wherein said electric discharges define a discharge shape and produce limited erosion on each discharge gradually over at least eight billion pulses to an end-of-life shape without causing a substantial change in the discharge shape,
• C) a pulse power system providing electrical pulses of at least two Joules to said electrodes at rates in excess of 1,000 Hz to produce said electric discharges,
• D) a blower system for circulating said laser gas between said two electrodes at a velocity in excess of 5 m per second,
• E) a heat exchanger having sufficient capacity to remove heat from said laser gas produced by said blower system and said discharge and,
• F) a gas flow guiding means to guide gas flow past said erodable electrode means without creating significant turbulence in said gas either when the electrodes are new or when the electrodes are eroded to their end-of-life shape.