Abstract: A mirror mount for a resonator mirror of a gas laser which is cost-beneficial and simple to manufacture is composed of a tube of easily-workable material, for example steel, and a mirror receptacle that has a coefficient of thermal expansion matched to that of the mirror being supported in the receptacle. The mirror receptacle has a holding region that embraces the resonator mirror and has a spacer region that defines the minimum distance of the mirror from the end of the tube, whereby the mirror receptacle is deformable in a radial direction so that stresses caused by temperature fluctuations will not produce any damage to the mirror.

Abstract: A gas laser has a laser tube which has one end extending into a connecting flange of the reservoir and the laser tube is soldered to the flange by a circumferential soldering. This structure will reduce intensity fluctuations of the laser, which is preferably an argon laser.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a stripline laser which is composed of a plurality of constituent parts assembled together with at least two of the parts being soldered to one another, characterized by the step of soldering being by a soft solder, subsequently cleaning the interior of the assembled laser by subjecting it to the influence of a plasma treatment, continuing the plasma treatment to passivate the interior surfaces of the assembled parts of the laser, and limiting the temperature of the parts joined together by the soft solder to, at most, 150.degree. during each of the plasma treatments. The method is particularly suitable for utilization to form a CO.sub.2 stripline laser, and includes adding a CO.sub.2 gas during the second or continued plasma treatment for passivating the surfaces by saturating them with CO.sub.2.

Abstract: Slab or stripline gas laser. A slab or stripline gas laser that contains two laser mirrors (4, 5) has a single construction that is extremely mode-stable. The gas laser has a first electrode (1) that carries laser mirrors (4, 5) and that is connected to the laser mirrors (4, 5) in a fixed angular position, and a second electrode (13) that is mechanically fixed relative to the first electrode but is positioned such that it does not contact the laser mirrors (4, 5). The laser structure can be used in CO.sub.2 waveguide lasers.

Abstract: Slab or stripline laser. In a slab or stripline laser that contains two electrodes (1, 26) and two resonator mirrors (2, 3), the electrodes (1, 26) are executed shape-stable and the mirrors (2, 3) and a second electrode (26) are secured to and carried by the first electrode (1). The invention is suitable for compact stripline lasers.

Abstract: High-power stripline laser. In a high-power stripline laser, a high beam quality and mode purity is achieved in that the mutual spacing of two electrodes that form waveguide surfaces for the laser emission and limit a discharge space are adjustable in a longitudinal direction and in a transverse direction of the discharge space and the metal spring is set to a desired value. The invention is suitable for high-power stripline lasers having high beam quality.

Abstract: Electrically excited stripline laser. In stripline lasers having high power density, a structure is provided wherein the resonator mirrors directly adjoin the stripline. An electrically insulating layer that has good waveguiding properties for the desired laser emission is arranged at least between a mirror and an excitation electrode. The stripline laser is suitable for stripline lasers having a high specific power.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing gas lasers, such as He-Ne lasers or Ar lasers characterized by positioning the laser housing within a vacuum chamber, evacuating the vacuum chamber to evacuate the laser housing through a filling tube provided in the housing, baking the housing, then filling the vacuum chamber with the laser gas, which enters into the laser housing through the filling tube, subsequently forming a solder closure in the end of the sealing tube, the removing the laser housing from the vacuum chamber and subsequently permanently sealing the filling tube by pinching off the solder closure to form a cold-weld seal of the tube.

Abstract: In a gas laser having a capillary and a cathode that envelopes the capillary, a fastening of the cathode suitable for batch soldering is achieved in that the cathode is secured to an end piece having a mount for an optical element, and an end of the cathode facing away from the end piece is elastically supported against a housing wall with such a slight spring power that a weight of the unit formed of the cathode, end piece, and mount is adequate for overcoming the friction between the spring and the housing wall. Thus, the end piece with the attached cathode can slide into its final position during soldering solely on the basis of the force of gravity. The invention is particularly suited for helium-neon lasers that are manufactured in glass solder technology.

Abstract: In a gas laser having integrated mirrors wherein two longitudinal modes of the laser oscillation are excited during operation, and wherein the oscillatory planes thereof reside perpendicularly relative to one another, a stabilization of the angular position of the oscillatory planes is achieved in that an optically birefringent element is arranged in the beam path of the optical resonator.

Abstract: In a CO or CO.sub.2 waveguide laser of the sealed-off type having transversal excitation, an enhancement of the useful life is achieved in that the electrodes 1 and 2 of metal that serve as waveguiding surfaces are coated with a layer insensitive to oxidation by the adjoining plasma and which has a roughness that is adequately low for the waveguiding. The invention can be particularly advantageously utilized for CO.sub.2 ribbon conductor or stripline lasers.

Abstract: A gas laser housing having a housing and a metal cap attached thereto, includes a mirror mount attached to the metal cap. The mirror mount is provided with an annular region of reduced diameter affixed to the metal cap to absorb mechanical stresses and thereby prevents stress crack corrosion at the circumference of the housing tube.

Abstract: A gas laser is provided having a cathode which is essentially tubularly designed and surrounds an end of a laser capillary which faces toward it. The cathode has a tube termination which serves the purpose of protecting tube parts situated there behind from the plasma of the laser. It surrounds a beam passage opening which insures that the laser beam can pass through in unattenuated fashion. This beam passage opening can be made smaller and the shielding can thus be improved since an extension of the mount for the optical elements of the laser projects into the interior of the laser, and the cathode is fixed to the extension at least in a radial direction. The invention is particularly suited for helium-neon lasers.

Abstract: In a gas laser having a capillary and a cathode that envelopes the capillary, a fastening of the cathode suitable for batch soldering is achieved in that the cathode is secured to an end piece having a mount for an optical element, and an end of the cathode facing away from the end piece is elastically supported against a housing wall with such a slight spring power that a weight of the unit formed of the cathode, end piece, and mount is adequate for overcoming the friction between the spring and the housing wall. Thus, the end piece with the attached cathode can slide into its final position during soldering solely on the basis of the force of gravity. The invention is particularly suited for helium-neon lasers that are manufactured in glass solder technology.

Abstract: An especially inexpensive laser tube is formed having a mirror mount composed of a material which is not matched to the coefficient of thermal expansion of the mirror material and in that the material is either soft soldered or glued on with a glue that develops little gas.

Abstract: In a gas laser whose housing is composed of metal caps and a hollow tube of glass or ceramic, whereby the parts are joined with a glass solder connection have a low melting temperature, i.e. with a glass solder that contains lead borate, a durable, vacuum-tight connection is guaranteed in that the metal cap is shaped such that its free edge approaches closer to the tube at at least certain locations than does an expanded portion of the metal cap lying back from the free edge, and in that the glass solder at least partially fills the space between the expanded portion and the hollow tube.

Abstract: The gas discharge space into which microwaves are fed via a waveguide forms a laser housing in the form of a waveguide having a longitudinal ridge therein, the laser housing being preferably dimensioned such that its critical wavelength .lambda..sub.k is shorter than or equal to the wavelength .lambda..sub.o of the microwave frequency. The gas laser may advantageously be a CO.sub.2 gas laser.

Abstract: An especially inexpensive laser tube is formed having a mirror mount composed of a material which is not matched to the coefficient of thermal expansion of the mirror material and in that the material is either soft soldered or glued on with a glue that develops little gas.

Abstract: A gas laser arrangement includes a discharge tube between a cathode and an anode, the discharge tube including a central discharge channel and at least one gas return channel. A blocking electrode is provided at the openings of the gas return channels at least in the cathode space and possibly also in the anode space, the blocking electrode being connected to a blocking voltage to avoid misfirings of the laser through the gas return channels.

Abstract: A gas laser includes a housing tube and a capillary projecting therebeyond and having a Brewster window attached at a free end of the capillary. Laser power is increased without an increase in laser length by providing a mirror which terminates the housing in vacuum-tight fashion and is secured to the housing tube beyond an end of the capillary as an extension of the discharge channel of the capillary.