Recent Advances in Ultraviolet Laser Technology

Abstract

The successful development of reliable UV lasers based on electrical pumping of rare gas halogen mixtures has lead to an increasing array of commercial and research applications that has served to further speed the development of these devices. Commercial applications which range from semiconductor processing to arterial reconstruction have driven the development of more efficient, more reliable, more versatile and eventually less costly laser devices. Research applications in atomic physics and plasma physics have led to interests in aperture scaling and short pulse operation of excimer lasers. At Los Alamos, development programs address high power discharge lasers, high energy E-beam lasers and efficient methods of achieving tunability of the laser output.