A team in Japan has generated 3-ns, 98-mJ pulses of 290-nm radiation with a 1 x 2 x 2-cm Ce:LiCAF power amplifier module. The researchers, from the Institute for Molecular Science in Okazaki, Tokin Corp. in Kumagaya and Tohoku University in Sendai, suggest that the setup may be used in place of frequency-tripled Ti:sapphire lasers in ozone detection.To characterize the module, they employed a double-pass bow-tie geometry pumped by four trains of 8-ns pulses of 266-nm radiation from Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers. The crystals, which the group has produced in boules more than 10 cm in diameter, should be suitable for UV applications with chirped pulse amplification lasers and with high-energy, low-repetition-rate Nd:glass lasers.