Other Types of Lasers
| Laser gain medium and type | Operation wavelength(s) | Pump source | Applications and notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free electron laser | A broad wavelength range (0.1 nm - several mm); a single free electron laser may be tunable over a wavelength range | relativistic electron beam | atmospheric research, material science, medical applications. |
| Gas dynamic laser | Several lines around 10.5 μm; other frequencies may be possible with different gas mixtures | Spin state population inversion in carbon dioxide molecules caused by supersonic adiabatic expansion of mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide | Military applications; can operate in CW mode at several megawatts optical power. |
| "Nickel-like" Samarium laser | X-rays at 7.3 nm wavelength | Lasing in ultra-hot samarium plasma formed by double pulse terawatt scale irradiation fluences created by Rutherford Appleton Laboratory's Nd:glass Vulcan laser. | 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. |
| Raman laser, uses inelastic stimulated Raman scattering in a nonlinear media, mostly fiber, for amplification | 1-2 μm for fiber version | Other laser, mostly Yb-glass fiber lasers | Complete 1-2 μm wavelength coverage; distributed optical signal amplification for telecommunications; optical solitons generation and amplification |
| Nuclear pumped laser | See gas lasers | Nuclear fission | Research |
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