Laser wavelength control unit with piezoelectric driver

Abstract

An electric discharge laser with fast wavelength correction. Fast wavelength correction equipment includes at least one piezoelectric drive and a fast wavelength measurement system and fast feedback response times. In a preferred embodiment, equipment is provided to control wavelength on a slow time frame of several milliseconds, on a intermediate time from of about one to five milliseconds and on a very fast time frame of a few microseconds. Preferred techniques include a combination of a relatively slow stepper motor and a very fast piezoelectric driver for tuning the laser wavelength using a tuning mirror. A preferred control technique is described (utilizing a very fast wavelength monitor) to provide the slow and intermediate wavelength control with the combination of a stepper motor and a piezoelectric driver. Very fast wavelength control is provided with a piezoelectric load cell in combination with the piezoelectric driver. Preferred embodiments provide (1) fast feedback control based on wavelength measurements, (2) fast vibration control, (3) active damping using the load cell and an active damping module, (4) transient inversion using feed forward algorithms based on historical burst data. A preferred embodiment adapts the feed forward algorithms to current conditions. Another preferred embodiment measures tuning mirror position to permit wavelength pretuning and active wavelength tuning.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.