rcktscientist
Thanks for those tips, I'll look into it.
For the short term I might just flame anneal. Eventually I might have to make a kiln, but if so it will be later in the project.
phentron
Yes, I have done a bit of online research for tungsten boro seals. Not a whole lot of info online, but enough that I think once I get a good torch I'll be able to figure it out. I'll probably use 0.2mm-0.4mm tungsten wire.
I will be having a brewster window on it. Right now I have several optical windows to try, I think all of them are Quarts/fused silica. I will be sealing the window to the tube with vacuum epoxy (Torr-seal/hysol 1C, suitable for this purpose).
The laser design will be very similar to a large Helium-Neon laser. Power is low enough that no active cooling is needed, so it keeps it much simpler.
I'm glad to hear you think flame annealing will be sufficient. Eventually I might want to make a kiln for full annealing, but I will worry about that later if I need to.
The gas is Helium at several torr. So leakage is an issue, especially long term. One solution for that is to minimize the number of electrical feedthroughs, right now looking at a minimum of 3-5. I've looked at neon sign electrodes, but I can't tell if they have any with borosilicate tubing, I think most are soft glass.
unfortunately I couldn't find any glassworking studios in my area.
At this point I am leaning towards tanked oxygen to ensure I can get enough heat when needed. I'll still have to see what tanked oxygen options and prices I have here.
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