ABSTRACT
Since its discovery some 37 years ago in 1964, the argon ion laser (and the closely related krypton ion laser) has continued to be a valued ‘powerhouse’ of coherent radiation in the ultraviolet (UV), visible and near infrared (NIR). Continuous-wave (cw) powers of several tens of watts in the visible (450-530 nm) and of several watts in the ultraviolet (229-363 nm) are available from commercial devices providing both high beam quality and spectral refinement. In addition devices have been demonstrated that generate hundreds of watts of cw power in the blue-green spectral region.
