Abstract

After their first appearance and the following developments in the connected technology during the last few years, color center lasers proved to be a powerful tool for a widespread range of applications, such as high resolution molecular spectroscopy, laser chemistry, pollution detection and studies of propagation in optical fibers. Although several types of color centers in different alkali halide crystals have been investigated in order to obtain laser action, the F_A(II) center still appears the most suitable for operation in the 2-3 μm range.

© 1984 Optical Society of America