Abstract

High-resolution spectroscopy of atoms, ions and molecules requires practical cw single-frequency lasers emitting in the UV. The traditional approach has been to use a single-frequency dye laser and resonant frequency doubling to the UV. Although effective and tunable, such a system is expensive and maintenance-intensive In a few cases, an all-solid-state approach has been employed, where a fixed-wavelength solid-state-laser emitting in the near IR (e g. Nd:YAG at 946 nm or 1064 nm) has been frequency-quadrupled in two cascaded resonant second-harmonic stages While this simplifies the source aspect, it is only applicable in particular cases

© 2000 IEEE