Editing Ultraviolet (section)

===Ultraviolet lasers===
{{main|Excimer laser}}
[[Gas laser]]s, [[laser diode]]s, and [[solid-state laser]]s can be manufactured to emit ultraviolet rays, and lasers are available that cover the entire UV range. The [[nitrogen gas laser]] uses electronic excitation of nitrogen molecules to emit a beam that is mostly UV. The strongest ultraviolet lines are at 337.1&nbsp;nm and 357.6&nbsp;nm in wavelength. Another type of high-power gas lasers are [[excimer laser]]s. They are widely used lasers emitting in ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet wavelength ranges. Presently, UV [[argon fluoride laser|argon-fluoride]] excimer lasers operating at 193&nbsp;nm are routinely used in [[integrated circuit]] production by [[photolithography]]. The current{{Clarify timeframe|date=June 2020}} wavelength limit of production of coherent UV is about 126&nbsp;nm, characteristic of the Ar<sub>2</sub>* excimer laser.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

Direct UV-emitting laser diodes are available at 375&nbsp;nm.<ref>{{cite web
 | title=UV laser diode: 375&nbsp;nm center wavelength
 | website=Thorlabs
 | location=United States / Germany
 | series=Product Catalog
 | language=en
 | url=http://www.thorlabs.de/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=5400
 | access-date=14 December 2014
 | archive-date=15 December 2014
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215055051/http://www.thorlabs.de/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=5400
 | url-status=live
 }}</ref> UV diode-pumped solid state lasers have been demonstrated using [[cerium]]-[[Dopant|doped]] lithium strontium aluminum fluoride crystals (Ce:LiSAF), a process developed in the 1990s at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]].<ref name="Marshall1996">
{{cite report
 |last = Marshall |first = Chris
 |title = A simple, reliable ultraviolet laser: The Ce:LiSAF
 |publisher = [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]]
 |year = 1996
 |url = https://www.llnl.gov/str/Marshall.html
 |access-date = 2008-01-11  |url-status = dead
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080920155324/https://www.llnl.gov/str/Marshall.html
 |archive-date = 20 September 2008
}}
</ref> Wavelengths shorter than 325&nbsp;nm are commercially generated in [[diode-pumped solid-state laser]]s. Ultraviolet lasers can also be made by applying [[Nonlinear optics|frequency conversion]] to lower-frequency lasers.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

Ultraviolet lasers have applications in industry ([[laser engraving]]), medicine ([[dermatology]], and [[keratectomy]]), chemistry ([[MALDI]]), [[Free Space Optics|free-air secure communications]], computing ([[optical storage]]), and manufacture of integrated circuits.{{cn|date=May 2024}}