A folded slab waveguide laser having a hybrid waveguide-unstable resonator cavity. Multiple slab waveguides of thickness t supporting vertical waveguide modes are physically arranged above one another in a stack and optically arranged in series through one or more cavity folding assemblies with curved mirrors. A gain medium such as a gas is arranged in each slab. Each cavity folding assembly is designed to redirect the radiation beam emitted from one slab waveguide into the next waveguide and also at the same time to provide a focus for the radiation beam so that a selected vertical waveguide mode (or modes) is (or are) coupled efficiently into the next slab.

A system includes an optical source configured to emit a pulsed light beam, the optical source comprising one or more chambers, each of the one or more chambers configured to hold a gaseous gain medium, the gaseous gain medium being associated with an assumed gas life; at least one detection module configured to: receive and analyze data related to the pulsed light beam, and produce a beam quality metric based on the data related to the pulsed light beam; and a monitoring module configured to: analyze the beam quality metric, determine a health status of the gaseous gain medium based on the analysis of the beam quality metric, and produce a status signal based on the determined health status, the status signal indicating whether to extend use of the gaseous gain medium beyond the assumed gas life or to end use of the gaseous gain medium.

A system includes an optical source configured to emit a pulsed light beam, the optical source comprising one or more chambers, each of the one or more chambers configured to hold a gaseous gain medium, the gaseous gain medium being associated with an assumed gas life; at least one detection module configured to: receive and analyze data related to the pulsed light beam, and produce a beam quality metric based on the data related to the pulsed light beam; and a monitoring module configured to: analyze the beam quality metric, determine a health status of the gaseous gain medium based on the analysis of the beam quality metric, and produce a status signal based on the determined health status, the status signal indicating whether to extend use of the gaseous gain medium beyond the assumed gas life or to end use of the gaseous gain medium.

A gas laser apparatus includes a voltage application circuit, a chamber device that includes an electrode and is configured to output light generated when a voltage is applied to the electrode from the voltage application circuit, a first pallet that includes a mounting surface on which the chamber device and the voltage application circuit are disposed in parallel with each other, and a housing unit in and out of which the first pallet is movable by movement in an in-plane direction of the mounting surface.

The laser doping apparatus may irradiate a predetermined region of a semiconductor material with a pulse laser beam to perform doping. The laser doping apparatus may include: a solution supplying system configured to supply dopant-containing solution to the predetermined region, and a laser system including at least one laser device configured to output the pulse laser beam to be transmitted by the dopant-containing solution, and a time-domain pulse waveform changing apparatus configured to control a time-domain pulse waveform of the pulse laser beam.

A high-voltage pulse generator may include a number n (n is a natural number of not less than 2) of primary electric circuits connected in parallel to one another on the primary side of a pulse transformer, and a secondary electric circuit of the pulse transformer, which is connected to a pair of discharge electrodes disposed in a laser chamber of a gas laser apparatus. The n primary electric circuits may include a number n of primary coils connected in parallel to one another, a number n of capacitors respectively connected in parallel to the n primary coils, and a number n of switches respectively connected in series to the n capacitors. The n primary electric circuits may be connected to a number n of chargers for charging the n capacitors, respectively. The secondary electric circuit may include a number n of secondary coils connected in series to one another, and a number n of diodes each connected to opposite ends of each of the n secondary coils, to prevent a reverse current flowing from the pair of discharge electrodes toward the secondary coils.

A laser gas regeneration system for an excimer laser includes a first pipe capable of supplying a laser chamber with a first laser gas, a second pipe capable of supplying the laser chamber with a second laser gas having a halogen gas concentration higher than that of the first laser gas, a third pipe allowing a gas exhausted from the laser chamber to pass therethrough, a gas refiner that refines the gas having passed through the third pipe, a branch that causes the refined gas to divide and flow into a fourth pipe and a fifth pipe, a first regenerated gas supplier that supplies the first pipe with a gas having divided and flowed into the fourth pipe, and a second regenerated gas supplier that adds a halogen gas to a gas having divided and flowed into the fifth pipe and supplies the second pipe with the halogen-added gas.

A laser device includes: a master oscillator (100) configured to output a pulse laser beam (L) based on a light emission trigger signal (S21); a delay circuit (153) configured to generate a switching signal (S10) after a predetermined delay time has elapsed since reception of the light emission trigger signal (S21); a high voltage switch (304) configured to generate a high voltage pulse based on the switching signal (S10); an optical shutter (32k) positioned on the optical path of the pulse laser beam (L) and driven based on the high voltage pulse; and a high voltage monitor (151) configured to detect the high voltage pulse and transmit a high voltage pulse sensing signal (S6) to the delay circuit (153). The delay circuit (153) determines the delay time based on the light emission trigger signal (S21) and the high voltage pulse sensing signal (S6).

A dielectric electrode assembly, and a method of manufacture thereof, including: a dielectric tube having a cylindrical cross-section and a relative dielectric constant, .sub.2, the dielectric tube filled with a gas having a relative dielectric constant, .sub.1; a structural dielectric having a relative dielectric constant, .sub.3 surrounding the dielectric tube; metal electrodes on opposite sides of the structural dielectric, the metal electrodes having a flat cross-sectional geometry; and the structural dielectric made from a material selected such that the relative dielectric constants of the structural dielectric, the dielectric tube, and the gas are interrelated and a uniform electric field is generated within the dielectric tube when power is applied to the metal electrodes.

In a method, energy is supplied to a first gas discharge chamber of a first stage until a pulsed amplified light beam is output from the first stage and directed toward a second stage. While the energy is supplied to the first gas discharge chamber: a value of an operating parameter of the first gas discharge chamber is measured; it is determined whether to adjust an operating characteristic of the first gas discharge chamber based on the measured value; and, the operating characteristic of the first gas discharge chamber is adjusted if it is determined that the operating characteristic of the first gas discharge chamber should be adjusted. After it is determined that the operating characteristic of the first gas discharge chamber no longer should be adjusted, then an adjustment procedure is applied to an operating characteristic of a second gas discharge chamber of the second stage.