| Laser gain medium and type
| Operation wavelength(s)
| Pump source
| Applications and notes
|
| Helium-neon gas laser
| 632.8 nm (543.5 nm, 593.9 nm, 611.8 nm, 1.1523 μm, 1.52 μm, 3.3913 μm)
| Electrical discharge
| Interferometry, holography, spectroscopy, barcode scanning, alignment, optical demonstrations.
|
| Argon ion gas laser
| 488.0 nm, 514.5 nm, (351 nm, 465.8 nm, 472.7 nm, 528.7 nm)
| Electrical discharge
| Retinal phototherapy (for diabetes), lithography, pumping other lasers.
|
| Krypton ion gas laser
| 416 nm, 530.9 nm, 568.2 nm, 647.1 nm, 676.4 nm, 752.5 nm, 799.3 nm
| Electrical discharge
| Scientific research, mixed with argon for creation of "white-light" lasers, light shows.
|
| Xenon ion gas laser
| Many lines throughout entire visible spectrum extending into the UV and IR.
| Electrical discharge
| Scientific research.
|
| Nitrogen gas laser
| 337.1 nm
| Electrical discharge
| Pumping of dye lasers, measurement of air pollution, scientific research, nitrogen lasers are capable of operating superradiantly (without a resonator cavity), amateur laser construction.
|
| Hydrogen fluoride laser
| 2.7 to 2.9 μm for (Hydrogen fluoride) 3.6 to 4.2 μm for (Deuterium fluoride)
| Chemical reaction in a burning jet of ethylene and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3)
| Used in research for laser weaponry by the U.S. DOD, operated in continuous wave mode and capable of extremely high powers in the megawatt range.
|
| Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser (COIL)
| 1.315 μm
| Chemical reaction in a jet of singlet delta oxygen and iodine
| Laser weaponry, scientific and materials research, laser used in the U.S. military's Airborne laser, operated in continuous wave mode and capable of extremely high powers in the megawatt range.
|
| Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas laser
| 10.6 μm, (9.4 μm)
| Transverse (high power) or longitudinal (low power) electrical discharge
| Material processing (cutting, welding, etc.), surgery.
|
| Carbon monoxide (CO) gas laser
| 2.6 to 4 μm, 4.8 to 8.3 μm
| Electrical discharge
| Material processing (engraving, welding, etc.), photoacoustic spectroscopy.
|
| Excimer chemical lasers
| 193 nm (ArF), 248 nm (KrF), 308 nm (XeCl), 353 nm (XeF)
| Excimer recombination via electrical discharge
| Ultraviolet lithography for semiconductor manufacturing, laser surgery, LASIK.
|
| Laser gain medium and type
| Operation wavelength(s)
| Pump source
| Applications and notes
|
| Helium-cadmium (HeCd) metal-vapor laser
| 440 nm, 325 nm
| Electrical discharge in metal vapor mixed with helium buffer gas.
| Printing and typesetting applications, fluorescence excitation examination (ie. in U.S. paper currency printing), scientific research.
|
| Helium-mercury (HeHg) metal-vapor laser
| 567 nm, 615 nm
| Electrical discharge in metal vapor mixed with helium buffer gas.
| Rare, scientific research, amateur laser construction.
|
| Helium-Selenium (HeSe) metal-vapor laser
| up to 24 wavelengths between red and UV
| Electrical discharge in metal vapor mixed with helium buffer gas.
| Rare, scientific research, amateur laser construction.
|
| Copper vapor laser
| 510.6 nm, 578.2 nm
| Electrical discharge
| Dermatological uses, high speed photography, pump for dye lasers.
|
| Gold vapor laser
| 627 nm
| Electrical discharge
| Rare, dermatological and photodynamic therapy uses.
|
| Laser gain medium and type
| Operation wavelength(s)
| Pump source
| Applications and notes
|
| Ruby solid-state laser
| 694.3 nm
| Flashlamp
| Holography, tattoo removal. The first type of laser invented, in 1960.
|
| Neodymium YAG (Nd:YAG) solid-state laser
| 1.064 μm, (1.32 μm)
| Flashlamp, laser diode
| Material processing, rangefinding, laser target designation, surgery, research, pumping other lasers (in combination with frequency doubling). One of the most common high power lasers. Usually pulsed (down to fractions of a nanosecond)
|
| Neodymium YLF (Nd:YLF) solid-state laser
| 1.047 and 1.053 μm
| Flashlamp, laser diode
| Mostly used for pulsed pumping of certain types of pulsed Ti:sapphire lasers, in combination with frequency doubling.
|
| Neodymium YVO4 (Nd:YVO) solid-state laser
| 1.064 μm
| laser diode
| Mostly used for continuous pumping of mode-locked Ti:sapphire lasers, in combination with frequency doubling.
|
| Neodymium Glass (Nd:Glass) solid-state laser
| ~1.062 μm (Silicate glasses), ~1.054 μm (Phosphate glasses)
| Flashlamp, laser diode
| Used in extremely high power (Terawatt scale), high energy (Megajoules) multiple beam systems for inertial confinement fusion. Nd:Glass lasers are usually frequency tripled to the third harmonic at 351 nm in laser fusion devices.
|
| Titanium sapphire (Ti:sapphire) solid-state laser
| 650-1100 nm
| Other laser
| Spectroscopy, LIDAR, research. This material is often used in highly-tunable mode-locked infrared lasers to produce ultrashort pulses and in amplifier lasers to produce ultrashort and ultra-intense pulses.
|
| Thulium YAG (Tm:YAG) solid-state laser
| 2.0 μm
| Laser diode
| Laser radar.
|
| Ytterbium YAG (Yb:YAG) solid-state laser
| 1.03 μm
| Laser diode, flashlamp
| Optical refrigeration, materials processing, ultrashort pulse research, multiphoton microscopy, LIDAR.
|
| Holmium YAG (Ho:YAG) solid-state laser
| 2.1 μm
| Laser diode
| Tissue ablation, kidney stone removal, dentistry.
|
| Cerium doped lithium strontium(or calcium) aluminum fluoride (Ce:LiSAF, Ce:LiCAF)
| ~280 to 316 nm
| Frequency quadrupled Nd:YAG laser pumped, excimer laser pumped, copper vapor laser pumped.
| Remote atmospheric sensing, LIDAR, optics research.
|
| Promethium 147 doped phosphate glass (147Pm+3:Glass) solid-state laser
| 933 nm, 1098 nm
| ??
| Laser material is radioactive, one time demonstration of use at LLNL in 1987, room temperature 4 level lasing in 147Pm doped into a lead-indium-phosphate glass étalon.
|
| Chromium doped Chrysoberyl (Alexandrite) solid-state laser
| Typically tuned in the range of 700 to 820 nm
| Flashlamp, laser diode, mercury arc (for CW mode operation)
| Dermatological uses, LIDAR, laser machining.
|
| Erbium doped fibre laser
| 1.53-1.56 μm
| Laser diode
| Optical amplifier for telecommunications over optical fibre.
|
| Uranium doped calcium fluoride (U:CaF2) solid-state laser
| 2.5 μm
| Flashlamp
| First 4-level solid state laser (1960) developed by Peter Sorokin and Mirek Stevenson, second laser invented overall (after Maiman's ruby laser), liquid helium cooled, unused today.
|
| Laser gain medium and type
| Operation wavelength(s)
| Pump source
| Applications and notes
|
| Free electron laser
| there exist free electron lasers over a broad wavelength range (about 100 nm - several mm); a single free electron laser may be tunable over a certain wavelength range
| relativistic electron beam
| atmospheric research, material science, medical applications, missile defense
|
| "Nickel-like" Samarium laser
| X-rays at 7.3 nm wavelength
| Lasing in ultra-hot samarium plasma which was formed by double pulse terawatt scale irradiation fluences created by the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory's (http://www.rl.ac.uk) Nd:glass VULCAN laser. [1] (http://www.clf.rl.ac.uk/Reports/1996-1997/pdf/16.pdf)
| First demonstration of efficient "saturated" operation of a sub-10 nm X-ray laser, possible applications in high resolution microscopy and holography, operation is close to the "water window" at 2.2 to 4.4 nm where observation of DNA structure and the action of viruses and drugs on cells can be examined.
|
