Editing Laser (section)

==== Excimer lasers ====

[[Excimer laser]]s are a special sort of gas laser powered by an electric discharge in which the lasing medium is an [[excimer]], or more precisely an [[exciplex]] in existing designs. These are molecules that can only exist with one atom in an [[excited state|excited electronic state]]. Once the molecule transfers its excitation energy to a photon, its atoms are no longer bound to each other, and the molecule disintegrates. This drastically reduces the population of the lower energy state thus greatly facilitating a population inversion. Excimers currently used are all [[:Category:Noble gas compounds|noble gas compounds]]; noble gasses are chemically inert and can only form compounds while in an excited state. Excimer lasers typically operate at [[ultraviolet]] wavelengths, with major applications including semiconductor [[photolithography]] and [[LASIK]] eye surgery. Commonly used excimer molecules include ArF (emission at 193&nbsp;nm), KrCl (222&nbsp;nm), KrF (248&nbsp;nm), XeCl (308&nbsp;nm), and XeF (351&nbsp;nm).<ref>{{cite book
 |first=D. |last=Schuocker |year=1998
 |title=Handbook of the Eurolaser Academy
 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-412-81910-0}}</ref>{{Page missing|date=January 2024}}
The molecular [[fluorine]] laser, emitting at 157&nbsp;nm in the vacuum ultraviolet, is sometimes referred to as an excimer laser; however, this appears to be a misnomer since F<sub>2</sub> is a stable compound.