Abstract: Two excimer lasers have individual pulsing circuits each including a storage capacitor which is charged and then discharged through a pulse transformer to generate an electrical pulse, which is delivered to the laser to generate a light pulse. The time between generation of the electrical pulse and creation of the light pulse is dependent on the charged voltage of the capacitor. The capacitors are charged while disconnected from each other. The generation of the electrical pulses is synchronized by connecting the capacitors together for a brief period after the capacitors are charged to equalize the charging voltages. The capacitors are disconnected from each other before they are discharged.

Abstract: Two excimer lasers have individual pulsing circuits each including a storage capacitor which is charged and then discharged through a pulse transformer to generate an electrical pulse, which is delivered to the laser to generate a light pulse. The time between generation of the electrical pulse and creation of the light pulse is dependent on the charged voltage of the capacitor. The capacitors are charged while disconnected from each other. The generation of the electrical pulses is synchronized by connecting the capacitors together for a brief period after the capacitors are charged to equalize the charging voltages. The capacitors are disconnected from each other before they are discharged.

Abstract: Two excimer lasers have individual pulsing circuits each including a storage capacitor which is charged and then discharged through a pulse transformer to generate an electrical pulse, which is delivered to the laser to generate a light pulse. The time between generation of the electrical pulse and creation of the light pulse is dependent on the charged voltage of the capacitor. The capacitors are charged while disconnected from each other. The generation of the electrical pulses is synchronized by connecting the capacitors together for a brief period after the capacitors are charged to equalize the charging voltages. The capacitors are disconnected from each other before they are discharged.

Abstract: Two excimer lasers have individual pulsing circuits each including a storage capacitor which is charged and then discharged through a pulse transformer to generate an electrical pulse, which is delivered to the laser to generate a light pulse. The time between generation of the electrical pulse and creation of the light pulse is dependent on the charged voltage of the capacitor. The capacitors are charged while disconnected from each other. The generation of the electrical pulses is synchronized by connecting the capacitors together for a brief period after the capacitors are charged to equalize the charging voltages. The capacitors are disconnected from each other before they are discharged.

Abstract: Method and system provide a variable delay between the external trigger pulse for a laser system and the light pulse such that the total delay is controlled. The method and system utilize a digital time measuring circuit which measure a time interval which corresponds to a time between the generation of the trigger pulse and generation or a laser light pulse. Based on the measurement by the digital time measuring circuit a processor controls a delay circuit which thereby controls the time between the trigger pulse and the generation of the laser light pulse.

Abstract: Precise timing control can be obtained for a gas discharge laser, such as an excimer or molecular fluorine laser, using a timed trigger ionization. Instead of using a standard approach to control the timing of the emission or amplification of an optical pulse using the discharge of the main electrodes, the timing of which can only be controlled to within about 10 ns, a trigger ionization pulse applied subsequent to the charging of the main electrodes can be used to control the timing of the discharge, thereby decreasing the timing variations to about 1 ns. Since ionization of the laser gas can consume relatively small amounts of energy, such a circuit can be based on a fast, high-voltage, solid state switch that is virtually free of jitter. Trigger ionization also can be used to synchronize the timing of dual chambers in a MOPA configuration. In one such approach, ionization trigger can include at least a portion of the optical pulse from the oscillator in a MOPA configuration.

Abstract: Precise timing control can be obtained for a gas discharge laser, such as an excimer or molecular fluorine laser, using a timed trigger ionization. Instead of using a standard approach to control the timing of the emission or amplification of an optical pulse using the discharge of the main electrodes, the timing of which can only be controlled to within about 10 ns, a trigger ionization pulse applied subsequent to the charging of the main electrodes can be used to control the timing of the discharge, thereby decreasing the timing variations to about 1 ns. Since ionization of the laser gas can consume relatively small amounts of energy, such a circuit can be based on a fast, high-voltage, solid state switch that is virtually free of jitter. Trigger ionization also can be used to synchronize the timing of dual chambers in a MOPA configuration. In one such approach, ionization trigger can include at least a portion of the optical pulse from the oscillator in a MOPA configuration.

Abstract: Method and system provide a variable delay between the external trigger pulse for a laser system and the light pulse such that the total delay is controlled. The method and system utilize a digital time measuring circuit which measure a time interval which corresponds to a time between the generation of the trigger pulse and generation or a laser light pulse. Based on the measurement by the digital time measuring circuit a processor controls a delay circuit which thereby controls the time between the trigger pulse and the generation of the laser light pulse.

Abstract: Method and system provide a variable delay between the external trigger pulse for a laser system and the light pulse such that the total delay is maintained at a substantially constant level and the overall delay between the external trigger pulse of the laser system and the light pulse is not effected by the HV, temperature change or other parameters such as material properties. The variable delay may be implemented with digital delay lines.

Abstract: A diagnostic system is disclosed for monitoring the operation of an excimer laser. A typical excimer laser generates a light pulse in response to a trigger signal. The trigger signal propagates from an external source through a number of electrical modules to the gas discharge. In accordance with the subject invention, outputs from each of the various modules are supplied to digital counters. When the laser is operating properly, each counter will record a single count for each trigger signal. When a fault occurs, the number of counts counted by the counter connected to the faulty module will not match the number of trigger signals. The service engineer can use the information in the counters to help identify which module in the trigger chain is experiencing problems.

Abstract: An isolation means used in conjunction with supplying energy to a laser, which isolates a power supply from the pulser circuit, and commutates a switch which activates the discharge of energy to the laser.

Abstract: An isolation means used in conjunction with supplying energy to a laser, which isolates a power supply from the pulser circuit, and commutates a switch which activates the discharge of energy to the laser.