| 摘要 |
An excimer gas laser using a fluorine/krypton/neon gas mixture is provided with separate fluorine/neon (32) and krypton/neon (34) gas sources for use in replenishing the gas mixture. A bleed-down (36) mechanism is also provided for draining a portion of the gas mixture from the excimer laser. A control mechanism (44) controls operation of the separate fluorine/neon (32) and krypton/neon (34) source and the bleed-down (36) mechanism to selectively vary the gas mixture within the excimer laser to maintain an overall optimal laser efficiency. Preferably, the control system (44) monitors operational parameters of the excimer laser including gain, wavelength, bandwidth and pulse rate, to determine whether the gas mixture within the excimer laser may have changed from an optimal mixture. The control system controls operation of the separate fluorine/neon and krypton/neon sources to compensate for changes in the operation parameters of the laser to thereby maintain high overall laser efficiency. Alternatively, gas replenishment is controlled subject to pre-determined empirically-based gas replenishment strategies.
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