A terahertz laser suitable for emitting at least one first electromagnetic radiation, a first emission frequency of which is between 700 and 1200 GHz. The laser comprises an infrared laser source and a resonant cavity arranged to be optically pumped by the infrared laser source, the resonant cavity containing ammonia gas as an amplifier medium and having at least one configuration in which the resonant cavity is a resonant cavity at the first emission frequency. The infrared laser source is a continuous semiconductor laser source capable of exciting molecules of the amplifier medium from an initial energy level to at least one first excited energy level, the molecules of the amplifier medium placed in the first energy level being able to relax through a pure inversion transition for which the relaxation energy corresponds to the first emission frequency.

A terahertz laser suitable for emitting at least one first electromagnetic radiation, a first emission frequency of which is between 700 and 1200 GHz. The laser comprises an infrared laser source and a resonant cavity arranged to be optically pumped by the infrared laser source, the resonant cavity containing ammonia gas as an amplifier medium and having at least one configuration in which the resonant cavity is a resonant cavity at the first emission frequency. The infrared laser source is a continuous semiconductor laser source capable of exciting molecules of the amplifier medium from an initial energy level to at least one first excited energy level, the molecules of the amplifier medium placed in the first energy level being able to relax through a pure inversion transition for which the relaxation energy corresponds to the first emission frequency.

The disclosed invention relates to a method of realizing a laser processing system. The laser processing system includes a flashlamp-pumped pulsed iodine laser oscillator that generates a laser pulse, the flashlamp pumped pulsed iodine laser oscillator being a master oscillator of a MOPA system; and a chemical oxygen-iodine laser amplifier that amplifies a double pulse, the chemical oxygen-iodine laser amplifier being a power amplifier of the MOPA system.

Laser amplification utilizing plasma confinement of a gas laser gain media is described. The gas laser gain media is compressed into plasma utilizing a self-reinforcing magnetic field referred to a plasma pinch (e.g., a flow stabilized z-pinch). In the pinch, the gas laser gain media is compressed to a high density, which improves the gain of the media. Coherent light is transmitted through the plasma pinch, which is amplified by the plasma pinch.

Problem: to suppress the number of times complete gas replacement in a laser chamber. Solution: this excimer laser apparatus may include a gas supply unit, connected to a first receptacle that holds a first laser gas containing halogen gas and a second receptacle that holds a second laser gas having a lower halogen gas concentration than the first laser gas, that supplies the first laser gas and the second laser gas to the interior of the laser chamber. Then, gas pressure control in which the gas supply unit supplies the second laser gas to the interior of the laser chamber or a gas exhaust unit partially exhausts gas from within the laser chamber, and partial gas replacement control in which the gas supply unit supplies the first laser gas and the second laser gas to the interior of the laser chamber and the gas exhaust unit partially exhausts gas from within the laser chamber sequentially, may be selectively performed.

A gas laser, including: a semiconductor laser, an optical beam-shaping system, a pair of electrodes, a discharge tube, a rear mirror, and an output mirror. The pair of electrodes includes two electrodes. The electrodes are symmetrically disposed at an outer layer of the discharge tube in parallel. The electrodes are connected to a radio-frequency power supply via a matching network, and the electrodes operate to modify working gas in the discharge tube through radio-frequency discharge. The rear mirror and the output mirror are disposed at two end surfaces of the discharge tube, respectively. The rear mirror, taken together with the output mirror and the discharge tube, form a resonant cavity. The output mirror is configured to output a laser beam.

In an inertial containment fusion (ICF) system which uses a KrF laser, it is beneficial to perform pulse compression of the laser output to produce a higher-power, higher-intensity laser pulse at the target. Such pulse compression involves counter-propagating laser pump and seed beams. A short-pulse seed beam is amplified as energy is extracted from a long-pulse pump beam. Because such energy extraction is invariably incomplete, a fraction of the pump energy will exit the compression cell in the same direction as the optics used to create the seed beam. The invention involves a gas consisting of a noble gas such as neon or argon which may be excited by an electron beam to enhance absorption. By proper choice of gas, cell length, electron-beam excitation, and time delay, the residual pump beam may be absorbed almost entirely with less than 0.01% transmitted laser energy through the invention.

The present invention relates to a system for recirculating the gas atmosphere within an excimer laser system, where contaminates, created in the laser's operation, are removed, and the gas concentrations of additive gases, such as Xe, Kr, or others, depleted in the laser operation, are rebalanced to specific lasing mixtures by analyzation and component replenishment from one or more external supplies.

In a laser oscillator, a pair of electrodes is disposed in a housing into which a gas is sealed, a waveguide is formed by the pair of electrodes, and a laser beam is configured to be extracted from an end of the housing. The laser oscillator includes a mirror holder attached to an end of the electrode, the end serving as an end of the waveguide, and a reflection mirror attached to the mirror holder and reflecting a laser beam generated in the waveguide. In the laser oscillator, a passage through which a cooling medium is passed is formed inside each of the pair of electrodes.

In a laser oscillator, a pair of electrodes is disposed in a housing into which a gas is sealed, a waveguide is formed by the pair of electrodes, and a laser beam is configured to be extracted from an end of the housing. The laser oscillator includes a mirror holder attached to an end of the electrode, the end serving as an end of the waveguide, and a reflection mirror attached to the mirror holder and reflecting a laser beam generated in the waveguide. In the laser oscillator, a passage through which a cooling medium is passed is formed inside each of the pair of electrodes.