Editing Laser (section)

==== Chemical lasers ====

[[Chemical laser]]s are powered by a chemical reaction permitting a large amount of energy to be released quickly. Such very high-power lasers are especially of interest to the military; however continuous wave chemical lasers at very high power levels, fed by streams of gasses, have been developed and have some industrial applications. As examples, in the [[hydrogen fluoride laser]] (2700–2900&nbsp;nm) and the [[deuterium fluoride laser]] (3800&nbsp;nm) the reaction is the combination of hydrogen or deuterium gas with combustion products of [[ethylene]] in [[nitrogen trifluoride]].

The first chemical laser was demonstrated in 1965 by Jerome V. V. Kasper and [[George C. Pimentel]] at the University of California, Berkeley. It was a [[hydrogen chloride]] laser operating at 3.7 micrometers.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Gupta | first=Devaryan | title=Laser Technology Applications: A gift to Humanity | journal=International Journal of Applied Research | publisher=AkiNik | volume=1 | issue=7 | date=2016-09-29 | issn=2394-5869 | pages=476–486 | url=https://www.allresearchjournal.com/archives/?year=2015&vol=1&issue=7&part=H&ArticleId=2626 | access-date=2025-03-13}}</ref>