New approaches to high-power u v visible lasers†

The problems in developing high-efficiency, UV visible lasers are discussed, indicating the lack of appropriate laser molecules as well as the lack of sufficient number of energetic electrons in a discharge. Some recent new approaches to solve these problems are reviewed and successful results obtained by these new methods are presented. These recent developments have led to laser outputs of over 1.5J/pulse in the near-UV region with electrical efficiency of about 1%. Output energies of tens of joules per pulse with overall efficiencies approaching 10% appear feasible in the near future.