Considering the thermodynamical fluid mechanics in the gain medium and laser kinetic processes, a three-dimensional theoretical model of an exciplex-pumped Cs vapor laser with longitudinal and transverse gas flow is established. The slope efficiency of laser calculated by the model shows good agreement with the experimental data. The comprehensive three-dimensional distribution of temperature and particle density of Cs is depicted. The influence of pump intensity, wall temperature, and fluid velocity on the laser output performance is also simulated and analyzed in detail, suggesting that a higher wall temperature can guarantee a higher output laser power while causing a more significant heat accumulation in the cell. Compared with longitudinal gas flow, the transverse flow can improve the output laser power by effectively removing the generated heat accumulation and alleviating the temperature gradient in the cell.

The laser-induced damage threshold of a calcium fluoride (CaF₂) single crystal was obtained by a 193 nm ArF excimer laser. The damage morphology of the crystal was analyzed. The results showed that the surface of CaF₂ single crystal broke along the natural cleavage plane under ArF excimer laser irradiation, some fragments fell off, and Newton’s rings were observed on the curved fragments. Laser-induced periodic stripe structures (LIPSS) appeared on the surface layer beneath the fragments that peeled off. The spacing of LIPSS was measured, and the formation mechanism of LIPSS was analyzed based on the interference model.

A theoretical model is established to describe the thermal dynamics and laser kinetics in a static pulsed exciplex pumped Cs–Ar laser (XPAL). The temporal behaviors of both the laser output power and temperature rise in XPALs with a long-time pulse and multi-pulse operation modes are calculated and analyzed. In the case of long-time pulse pumping, the results show that the initial laser power increases with a rise in the initial operating temperature, but the laser power decreases quickly due to heat accumulation. In the case of multi-pulse operation, simulation results show that the optimal laser output power can be obtained by appropriately increasing the initial temperature and reducing the thermal relaxation time.

The ablation of sintered silicon carbide ceramics by an ArF excimer laser was studied. Three zones are generated: the ablation zone that presented molten morphology and was composed by the Si and C phase; the condensation zone formed by vaporized SiC; and the oxidation zone that showed the characteristics of thermal oxidation. The ablation depth and oxidation range increase linearly with fluence and pulses within 0.5–4 J/cm², but the normalized ablation efficiency is constant (3.60 ± 0.60 μm·mm²/J). The theoretical photochemical ablation depth supplies 25% of the total depth at 1 J/cm² but decreases to 16% at 4 J/cm². The ablation is dominated by the photothermal effect and conforms to the thermal evaporation mechanism.

Accurate and precise wavelength controlling of narrowband excimer lasers is essential for the lithography of an integrated circuit. High-precision wavelength tuning and calibration of a line-narrowed ArF laser are presented in this work. The laser spectrum is narrowed to a sub-picometer with a line narrowing system. Absolute wavelength calibration of the line-narrowed laser is performed based on the optogalvanic (OG) effect using iron hollow cathode discharge (HCD). An sccuracy of better than 0.1 pm for wavelength tuning and calibration is achieved with our homemade wavemeter.

Sodium-ethane excimer pairs are studied and proved to be a great choice of excimer pumped sodium laser (XPNaL) gain media. The lifetime of the sodium D2 line is studied in a sodium-ethane excimer system excited by a 553 nm laser, and the observed phenomenon of lifetime lengthening is discussed. Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of the sodium D2 line is successfully obtained, and its time-resolved and spectroscopic characteristics are studied experimentally. According to the intensity of the ASE signal under different sodium vapor atom densities, the sodium D2 line gain feature of sodium-ethane excimer pairs excited by the 553 nm laser is concluded.