Discharge electrodes to be used in a gas laser device for exciting a laser gas containing fluorine by discharge include a cathode and an anode. The anode is arranged as facing the cathode and includes an electrode base member including a metal, and a coating layer including an insulating material and coating a part of a side surface, parallel to a longitudinal direction, of the electrode base member. The coating layer includes a first portion coating a first region of the side surface and a second portion coating a second region of the side surface, located farther from the cathode than the first region in a discharge direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and being thicker than the first portion.

Anodes and cathodes for use in generating gas discharge laser light are disclosed. The improved anode has a transition portion that includes a substantially vertical sidewall to transition between the active portion and the end portion to reduce erosion-related issues. The improved cathode has thickened spine portions in enhanced erosion locations. The spine portions are thickened by removing material from the shoulder of the cathode stepped cross-section profile in those locations in order to improve the longevity of the cathode.

An apparatus for a light source includes: an electrical insulator that defines a channel; a gasket that surrounds at least a portion of the electrical insulator; and a shield between the channel and the gasket. The channel is configured to receive an electrical conductor. The gasket includes a non-metallic material.

One or both of the confronting discharge surfaces of the cathode and anode electrodes in a laser discharge chamber, that is, the surfaces between which the plasma is struck, are provided with an engineered surface structure forming distributed discharge initiation or nucleation sites in order to effect control over the discharge process.

Disclosed are apparatus for and methods of passivating a first electrode normally serving as a cathode in a laser discharge chamber also including a second electrode normally serving as an anode by supplying reversed polarity pulses to the first electrode either during part of a chamber manufacturing passivation procedure or intermittently or on demand after the chamber has been put in service.

A laser chamber according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a laser chamber including a pair of electrodes disposed so as to face each other in a first direction, the laser chamber being configured such that a laser gas can be introduced into the laser chamber, at least one of the pair of electrodes including a discharge section extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and a shoulder section disposed so as to surround a side surface of the discharge section, a surface of the discharge section having a discharge surface extending in the second direction and an end surface provided at an end portion of the discharge section in the second direction, the end surface being a portion of a spheroid.

A chamber of a gas laser apparatus, the chamber configured to encapsulate a laser gas in an internal space, includes an anode disposed in the internal space and having a longitudinal direction along a predetermined direction; a cathode disposed in the internal space and including a base and a discharge section protruding from the base toward the anode, the cathode having a longitudinal direction along the predetermined direction, the cathode being separate from and facing the anode; a cathode-side cover disposed in the internal space, being separate from a portion of the base and the discharge section, and covering the base; and a cathode-side sound absorbing member provided in a gap between the portion of the base and the cathode-side cover.

A laser chamber of a gas laser device outputting laser light including a container filled with a laser gas; a first electrode extending in a first direction and arranged in the container; a second electrode arranged at a position closer to an inner wall of the container than the first electrode while extending in the first direction and facing the first electrode in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction; a fan causing the laser gas to flow through a discharge space between the first and second electrodes; an insulating guide arranged on a downstream side of the second electrode; and a vortex dividing member including structures extending in the first direction and arranged discretely along a direction in which the laser gas flows on a downstream side of the insulating guide, and dividing a vortex generated by a part of a flow of the laser gas.

A chamber apparatus for a laser configured to output laser light, the chamber apparatus including: a chamber; a first discharge electrode disposed in an internal space of the chamber and having a longitudinal direction aligned with an optical axis of the laser light; a second discharge electrode so disposed in the internal space that the second discharge electrode faces the first discharge electrode and has a longitudinal direction aligned with the optical axis of the laser light; a return member electrically connected to the chamber and further electrically connected to the second discharge electrode over a length from one end to the other end thereof in the longitudinal direction; and a support member fixed to the chamber and supporting the second discharge electrode, the second discharge electrode and the chamber being not electrically continuous with each other via the support member.

A laser chamber includes a cathode electrode including a cathode discharge surface extending in a first direction, an anode electrode including an anode discharge surface extending in the first direction, the anode discharge surface facing the cathode discharge surface in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, a fan that circulates the laser gas to pass through a discharge space between the cathode electrode and the anode electrode in a third direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction, and a preionization electrode disposed on an upstream side of the laser gas. A cross-sectional shape of the cathode discharge surface cut along a plane orthogonal to the first direction is asymmetrical about an axis parallel to the second direction, and a cross-sectional shape of the anode discharge surface cut along the plane is symmetrical about the axis, in an initial state.