GAS LASER OUTPUT CONTROL METHOD, GAS LASER APPARATUS AND LASER PROCESSING APPARATUS EQUIPPED WITH THIS GAS LASER APPARATUS

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the stability of laser oscillation by achieving more stable discharging.;SOLUTION: The gas laser apparatus supplies a voltage from a voltage power supply unit to an electrode provided in a chamber where a predetermined gas is filled to continuously pulse-oscillate a laser beam by discharging using the electrode. The gas laser apparatus is provided with: an energy detecting section for acquiring a part of the energy of the oscillated laser beam for the predetermined number of times; an abnormal discharging detecting section for detecting a reverse current through a circuit from the voltage power supply unit to the electrode and detecting the generation of abnormal discharging on the basis of a result of detection; and an output control section 14 for extracting a mean value of the energy obtained in the energy detecting section and the minimum and/or maximum value(s) and controlling the voltage power supply unit to output a command signal for supplying a predetermined voltage for the predetermined number of times on the basis of the extracted result and a result of detection acquired by the abnormal discharging detecting section 13. By this configuration, the laser oscillation is stabilized.;COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT