Abstract

Potential applications, such as laser annealing and laser processing of materials, have recently stimulated considerable interest in the scaling of XeCl gas discharge lasers to wider apertures and higher output energies. With the use of efficient frequency shifting techniques, such as stimulated Raman scattering and dye laser pumping, these lasers now permit the generation of high energy coherent radiation over a broad range of near UV and visible wavelengths.

© 1981 Optical Society of America