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Abstract

The stability of a gas discharge in an excimer or molecular fluorine laser system can be improved by generating multiple discharge pulses in the resonator chamber, instead of a single discharge pulse. Each of these discharges can be optimized in both energy transfer and efficient coupling to the gas. The timing of each discharge can be controlled using, for example, a common pulser component along with appropriate circuitry to provide energy pulses to each of a plurality of segmented main discharge electrodes. Applying the energy to the segmented electrodes rather than to a standard discharge electrode pair allows for an optimization of the temporal shape of the resulting superimposed laser pulse. The optimized shape and higher stability can allow the laser system to operate at higher repetition rates, while minimizing the damage to system and/or downstream optics.

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First Claim