A common cathode multibeam laser

Abstract

This invention belongs to the field of laser technology, specifically relating to a common-cathode multi-beam laser, comprising a cathode assembly, multiple anode assemblies, an optical resonant cavity assembly, and a power supply module. The power supply module is electrically connected to both the cathode and anode assemblies, providing operating voltage to them. Multiple anode assemblies are spaced apart above the cathode assembly. The optical resonant cavity assembly, positioned above the anode assemblies, includes multiple mirrors and an output mirror. Each mirror corresponds to one of the anode assemblies, forming multiple independent optical resonant cavities together with the output mirror. The common-cathode design allows multiple anode assemblies to share the same cathode, greatly simplifying the laser structure and significantly reducing the device size and production costs compared to traditional multi-beam lasers with multiple independent laser units.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of laser technology, specifically relating to a common cathode multibeam laser. Background Technology

[0002] In many industrial processing, medical, and scientific research fields, multiple laser beams need to operate simultaneously to improve efficiency or achieve specific functions. Traditional multi-beam lasers often employ multiple independent laser units, resulting in bulky and costly equipment, and making it difficult to guarantee the synchronization and stability between the individual laser units. Therefore, developing a common-cathode multi-beam laser is of great significance in ensuring the synchronization and stability between the individual laser units. Utility Model Content

[0003] In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings in the prior art, the present invention provides a common cathode multibeam laser to solve the problems in the background art.

[0004] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0005] A common-cathode multibeam laser includes a cathode assembly, multiple anode assemblies, an optical resonant cavity assembly, and a power supply module. The power supply module is electrically connected to the cathode assembly and the anode assembly respectively, and is used to provide operating voltage to the cathode assembly and the anode assembly. The multiple anode assemblies are spaced above the cathode assembly. The optical resonant cavity assembly is located above the anode assemblies and includes multiple mirrors and an output mirror. The multiple mirrors are arranged one-to-one with the multiple anode assemblies, and together with the output mirror, they form multiple independent optical resonant cavities.

[0006] Furthermore, the cathode assembly includes a cathode substrate and an electron emission layer disposed on the cathode substrate, the electron emission layer being used to emit electrons, and the cathode substrate being electrically connected to the power module.

[0007] Furthermore, the anode assembly includes an anode electrode and a laser gain medium cavity disposed around the anode electrode, the laser gain medium cavity being filled with a laser gain medium.

[0008] Furthermore, a hafnium oxide coating is deposited on the surface of the anode electrode.

[0009] Furthermore, the laser gain medium cavity has a double-layer nested structure and microchannels are provided on the inner wall.

[0010] Furthermore, the cathode substrate is made of a material with high electrical and thermal conductivity.

[0011] Furthermore, the anode electrode is made of molybdenum or tungsten material that is resistant to high temperatures and has high conductivity.

[0012] Furthermore, the inner layer of the laser gain medium cavity is in direct contact with the laser gain medium and is made of quartz glass.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, this utility model has the following advantages:

[0014] 1. The common cathode design allows multiple anode components to share the same cathode, greatly simplifying the laser's structure. Compared to traditional multi-beam lasers with multiple independent laser units, it significantly reduces equipment size and lowers production costs. Simultaneously, the integrated optical resonator and anode component design reduces coupling losses during laser transmission, improves the overall efficiency of the laser, and further reduces operating costs.

[0015] 2. The carbon nanotube field emission cathode design in the cathode assembly significantly improves electron emission efficiency and response speed, ensuring that the multi-beam laser can achieve rapid pulse modulation, meeting the requirements of applications with extremely high pulse response, such as laser lithography. In the anode assembly, the hafnium oxide coating enhances the interaction between electrons and the laser gain medium, while the double-layer nested structure and microfluidic cooling system effectively maintain the stable operating temperature of the laser gain medium, ensuring the stability of the laser output power. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an embodiment of a common cathode multibeam laser according to the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the cathode assembly in a common cathode multibeam laser according to the present invention;

[0018] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the anode assembly in a common cathode multibeam laser according to the present invention;

[0019] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the optical resonator assembly in a common cathode multibeam laser according to the present invention;

[0020] The reference numerals in the accompanying drawings include:

[0021] Cathode assembly (1), anode assembly (2), optical resonant cavity assembly (3), power supply module (4), cathode substrate (11), electron emission layer (12), anode electrode (21), laser gain medium cavity (22), laser gain medium (23), microchannel (24), mirror (31), output mirror (32), optical resonant cavity (33). Detailed Implementation

[0022] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand this utility model, the technical solution of this utility model will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0023] The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are schematic diagrams, not actual images. They should not be construed as limiting the scope of this patent. To better illustrate the embodiments of this utility model, some components in the drawings may be omitted, enlarged, or reduced, and do not represent the actual dimensions of the product. It is understandable to those skilled in the art that some well-known structures and their descriptions may be omitted in the drawings.

[0024] In the accompanying drawings of this utility model, the same or similar reference numerals correspond to the same or similar components. In the description of this utility model, it should be understood that if terms such as "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "inner," and "outer" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, they are only for the convenience of describing this utility model and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, the terms used to describe positional relationships in the drawings are only for illustrative purposes and should not be construed as limiting this patent. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0025] In the description of this utility model, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the term "connection" or similar designation indicating the connection relationship between components should be interpreted broadly. For example, it can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; it can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model based on the specific circumstances.

[0026] Example 1:

[0027] like Figure 1-4 As shown, this utility model discloses a common-cathode multi-beam laser, comprising a cathode assembly 1, multiple anode assemblies 2, an optical resonant cavity assembly 3, and a power supply module 4. The power supply module 4 is electrically connected to both the cathode assembly 1 and the anode assemblies 2, providing operating voltage to both assemblies. The multiple anode assemblies 2 are spaced apart above the cathode assembly 1. The optical resonant cavity assembly 3 is positioned above the anode assemblies 2 and includes multiple reflectors 31 and an output mirror 32. The multiple reflectors 31 are arranged one-to-one with the multiple anode assemblies 2, forming multiple independent optical resonant cavities 33 together with the output mirror 32.

[0028] In this embodiment, the cathode assembly 1 includes a cathode substrate 11 and an electron emission layer 12 disposed on the cathode substrate 11. The electron emission layer 12 is used to emit electrons, and the cathode substrate 11 is electrically connected to the power module 4. The cathode substrate 11 is made of a material with high electrical and thermal conductivity, such as copper or silver, and its surface undergoes special micro / nano structure treatment, for example, by constructing a micron-scale array of needle-like protrusions through photolithography and etching techniques. This micro / nano structure greatly increases the contact area between the electron emission layer 12 and the cathode substrate 11, reduces the resistance of electron transmission, and thus significantly improves the electron emission efficiency. Meanwhile, for the electron emission layer 12, a field emission cathode is preferably constructed using carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes have excellent electrical and mechanical properties, and their diameter is at the nanoscale, enabling efficient field-induced electron emission under relatively low applied electric fields. They exhibit high emission current density and extremely fast response speed, reaching picosecond levels, which is crucial for achieving rapid pulse modulation in multi-beam lasers.

[0029] In this embodiment, the anode assembly 2 includes an anode electrode 21 and a laser gain medium cavity 22 surrounding the anode electrode 21, the laser gain medium cavity 22 being filled with a laser gain medium 23. The anode electrode 21 is made of high-temperature resistant, highly conductive molybdenum or tungsten material, and a hafnium oxide coating with a thickness precisely controlled to tens of nanometers is deposited on its surface. This coating has good electron affinity, effectively attracting electrons emitted from the cathode, while increasing the secondary electron emission coefficient of the anode electrode 21, enhancing the interaction efficiency between electrons and the laser gain medium 23. The laser gain medium cavity 22 is designed with a double-layer nested structure. The inner layer is in direct contact with the laser gain medium 23 and is made of quartz glass material with a low coefficient of thermal expansion, ensuring that thermal stress generated by temperature changes during the operation of the laser gain medium 23 will not damage its structure; the outer layer is made of high-strength ceramic material, providing good mechanical protection and thermal insulation performance. In addition, a microchannel 24 is provided on the inner wall of the laser gain medium cavity 22. By circulating a cooling liquid such as a mixture of deionized water and ethylene glycol, efficient heat dissipation of the laser gain medium 23 is achieved, maintaining the stability of its operating temperature and ensuring the stability of the laser output power.

[0030] In this embodiment, a hafnium oxide coating is deposited on the surface of the anode electrode 21.

[0031] In this embodiment, the laser gain medium cavity 22 has a double-layer nested structure and the inner wall is provided with microchannels 24.

[0032] In this embodiment, the cathode substrate 11 is made of a material with high electrical and thermal conductivity.

[0033] In this embodiment, the anode electrode 21 is made of molybdenum or tungsten material that is resistant to high temperature and has high conductivity.

[0034] In this embodiment, the inner layer of the laser gain medium cavity 22 is in direct contact with the laser gain medium 23 and is made of quartz glass.

[0035] The optical resonant cavity assembly 3 is disposed above the anode assembly 2 and includes multiple reflectors 31 and output mirrors 32. The multiple reflectors 31 are arranged one-to-one with the multiple anode assemblies 2 and together with the output mirrors 32, they form multiple independent optical resonant cavities 33.

[0036] Both the reflector 31 and the output mirror 32 employ a multilayer dielectric film structure. By precisely controlling the thickness and refractive index of each dielectric film, high reflectivity and transmittance for specific wavelength lasers are achieved. For example, for carbon dioxide lasers, the reflectivity of the reflector 31 can reach over 99.9%, while the transmittance of the output mirror 32 is precisely controlled between 5% and 20% according to actual requirements. Furthermore, the surface flatness of the reflector 31 and the output mirror 32 achieves nanometer-level precision, processed using ion beam polishing technology, effectively reducing scattering losses during laser reflection and transmission, and improving the quality of the laser beam.

[0037] The reflector 31 and output mirror 32 of the optical resonant cavity assembly 3 are made of microcrystalline glass with an ultra-low coefficient of thermal expansion. This material exhibits extremely high dimensional stability under different temperature conditions, effectively preventing deformation of optical components due to temperature fluctuations. This maintains the precise cavity length of the optical resonant cavity 33 and ensures the stability of the laser output frequency. Even under operating conditions with temperature variations ranging from ±20℃, the cavity length change caused by the deformation of optical components based on the microcrystalline glass substrate can be controlled at the sub-nanometer level, ensuring minimal laser frequency drift and meeting the stringent requirements for laser frequency stability in scientific research and high-precision manufacturing applications.

[0038] The optical resonator assembly 3 is also equipped with a high-precision fine-tuning mechanism. Driven by piezoelectric ceramics, it can achieve precise adjustments to the angles of the reflector 31 and the output mirror 32 at the sub-micro-radian level, ensuring that the resonance conditions of each optical resonator 33 can be precisely optimized to adapt to the laser output requirements under different operating conditions. This fine-tuning mechanism can not only perform initial calibration of the optical element angles during laser startup, but also compensate for angle deviations caused by mechanical vibration, thermal deformation, and other factors in real time during laser operation. For example, when there is slight vibration in the laser's operating environment, the piezoelectric ceramic-driven fine-tuning mechanism can respond within milliseconds based on the signal feedback from the vibration sensor, adjusting the angles of the reflector 31 and the output mirror 32 to maintain stable resonance within the optical resonator 33, ensuring that the laser output power and beam quality are not affected.

[0039] Furthermore, the optical resonator assembly 3 and the laser gain medium cavity 22 of the anode assembly 2 are integrated and optimized in terms of structural layout. The laser beam generated by the laser gain medium cavity 22 is efficiently coupled into the corresponding optical resonator 33 at a near-perpendicular angle, reducing coupling losses during laser transmission. Simultaneously, the overall structural design of the optical resonator assembly 3 fully considers heat dissipation requirements, working in conjunction with the microfluidic cooling system of the laser gain medium cavity 22. By setting heat conduction channels in the support structure of the optical resonator assembly 3, the heat generated by the reflector 31 and output mirror 32 due to laser energy absorption is rapidly conducted to the cooling system of the laser gain medium cavity 22, achieving efficient overall heat dissipation and further improving the stability and reliability of the laser operation.

[0040] Once population inversion is achieved within the laser gain medium cavity 22 and the initial laser beam is generated, these laser beams enter the corresponding optical resonant cavity 33 at a near-perpendicular angle. Within the optical resonant cavity 33, a reflector 31 and an output mirror 32 form an optical feedback loop. The reflector 31 has extremely high reflectivity for lasers of a specific wavelength, causing the laser to reflect back and forth between the reflector 31 and the output mirror 32. During each round trip, the laser beam passes through the laser gain medium cavity 22 again, interacting with the population-inverted laser gain medium 23, further exciting stimulated emission and amplifying the light.

[0041] The output mirror 32 has a specific transmittance, allowing a portion of the amplified laser beam to pass through and be output, forming the desired laser beam. By precisely controlling the transmittance of the output mirror 32, the power of the output laser can be adjusted. For example, in high-power laser applications, appropriately reducing the transmittance of the output mirror 32 allows more laser energy to be amplified multiple times within the cavity before output, thereby increasing the output laser power. Conversely, in applications requiring high laser power stability, precisely controlling the transmittance of the output mirror 32 ensures stable laser energy output each time.

[0042] Meanwhile, the cavity length of the optical resonant cavity 33 has a decisive influence on the laser frequency. Because the reflector 31 and output mirror 32 utilize a microcrystalline glass substrate with an ultra-low coefficient of thermal expansion, the cavity length of the optical resonant cavity 33 remains stable under different temperature conditions, ensuring the stability of the laser output frequency. Furthermore, by precisely adjusting the angles of the reflector 31 and output mirror 32 through a high-precision fine-tuning mechanism, the propagation path and phase relationship of light within the cavity can be altered, further optimizing the resonance conditions. This enables the laser to output a high-quality, stable-frequency laser beam under different operating conditions, such as different laser gain medium temperatures and pressures.

[0043] Working principle: When the power module 4 provides operating voltage to the cathode assembly 1 and the anode assembly 2, the electron emission layer 12 of the cathode assembly 1 emits electrons under the action of the electric field. These electrons move towards the anode assembly 2 at extremely high speeds and enter the laser gain medium cavity 22. The laser gain medium 23 is usually composed of atoms, molecules, or ions with specific energy level structures. Taking the common carbon dioxide laser gain medium as an example, it mainly contains carbon dioxide molecules. During the interaction between electrons and carbon dioxide molecules, the energy of the electrons is transferred to the carbon dioxide molecules, causing the carbon dioxide molecules to jump from low energy levels to high energy levels, achieving population inversion. In the state of population inversion, the carbon dioxide molecules at high energy levels are unstable and will spontaneously jump to low energy levels, releasing photons. When these initial photons propagate in the laser gain medium cavity 22, they will interact with other carbon dioxide molecules at high energy levels, triggering stimulated emission. The photons generated by stimulated emission have the same frequency, phase, and polarization direction as the initial photons, thereby amplifying the light. The amplified light generated undergoes multiple reflections and oscillations in the corresponding optical resonant cavity 33. The optical resonant cavity 33, composed of the reflector 31 and the output mirror 32, has high reflectivity for light of a specific wavelength, allowing the light to propagate back and forth continuously within the cavity and interact with the laser gain medium 23, further amplifying the light intensity. Simultaneously, the high-precision flatness of the reflector 31 and the output mirror 32, along with their multilayer dielectric film structure, effectively reduces light loss during reflection and transmission, ensuring the high quality of the laser beam. Under certain resonance conditions, the light intensity within the cavity continuously increases, ultimately outputting a high-quality laser beam through the output mirror 32, which has a specific transmittance.

[0044] The above are merely embodiments of this utility model. The circuits, electronic components, and modules involved are all prior art, fully achievable by those skilled in the art, and require no further explanation. The content protected by this application does not involve improvements to the software or methods. Commonly known structures and characteristics in the solution are not described in detail here. Those skilled in the art are aware of all common technical knowledge in the field to which this utility model pertains prior to the application date or priority date, are able to access all existing technologies in that field, and possess the ability to apply conventional experimental methods prior to that date. Those skilled in the art can, under the guidance of this application, improve and implement this solution in conjunction with their own capabilities. Some typical known structures or methods should not be obstacles for those skilled in the art to implement this application. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make several modifications and improvements without departing from the structure of this utility model. These should also be considered within the scope of protection of this utility model, and will not affect the effectiveness of the implementation of this utility model or the practicality of the patent.

Claims

1. A common cathode multibeam laser, characterized in that: The device includes a cathode assembly (1), multiple anode assemblies (2), an optical resonant cavity assembly (3), and a power module (4); wherein the power module (4) is electrically connected to the cathode assembly (1) and the anode assembly (2) respectively, and is used to provide working voltage to the cathode assembly (1) and the anode assembly (2); the multiple anode assemblies (2) are spaced apart above the cathode assembly (1); the optical resonant cavity assembly (3) is located above the anode assembly (2), and includes multiple reflectors (31) and an output mirror (32), wherein the multiple reflectors (31) are arranged one-to-one with the multiple anode assemblies (2), and together with the output mirror (32) form multiple independent optical resonant cavities (33).

2. A common cathode multibeam laser as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The cathode assembly (1) includes a cathode substrate (11) and an electron emission layer (12) disposed on the cathode substrate (11). The electron emission layer (12) is used to emit electrons. The cathode substrate (11) is electrically connected to the power module (4).

3. A common cathode multibeam laser as defined in claim 2, characterized in that: The anode assembly (2) includes an anode electrode (21) and a laser gain medium cavity (22) disposed around the anode electrode (21), the laser gain medium cavity (22) being filled with a laser gain medium (23).

4. A common cathode multibeam laser as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that: The surface of the anode electrode (21) is coated with hafnium oxide.

5. A common cathode multibeam laser as defined in claim 4, characterized in that: The laser gain medium cavity (22) has a double-layer nested structure and microchannels (24) are provided on the inner wall.

6. A common cathode multibeam laser as defined in claim 5, characterized in that: The cathode substrate (11) is made of a material with high electrical and thermal conductivity.

7. A common cathode multibeam laser as defined in claim 6, characterized by: The anode electrode (21) is made of high-temperature resistant and highly conductive molybdenum or tungsten material.

8. A common cathode multibeam laser as defined in claim 6, characterized by: The inner layer of the laser gain medium cavity (22) is in direct contact with the laser gain medium (23) and is made of quartz glass.

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