Solid-State UV Lasers Advance

Photonics Industries International Inc. of Stony Brook, N.Y., has announced its latest achievement in the development of high-power UV lasers. The company has unveiled a 4.5-W solid-state device emitting in the fourth harmonic at 263 nm. Although still in prototype form, the Nd:YLF/YAG could find a future in ceramic materials processing and other deep-UV applications. Researchers at the company used lithium triborate as a doubling material in the laser.
This is the latest in several advances the company has made in recent years regarding UV lasers. In 1995, Photonics Industries introduced its 7-W Nd:YLF laser emitting at 351 nm. According to researcher Yusong Yin, IBM has contacted the company about purchasing the laser for cutting PC boards and copper wire. The device could someday replace gas UV lasers, which can be expensive to maintain, he said.