State-of-the-Art unique growth technology of YAlO₃ crystal matrix under reduction atmosphere from molybdenum or tungsten crucibles will be presented. Two main different color centers in undoped crystals and its behavior in Nd doped ones have been observed. The influence of these color centers on lasability will be documented. Post-growing thermal treatment for decreasing color centers concentration and its stabilization for laser generation will be discussed. A short review of lasers based on this matrix with different dopants and further development of growing YAlO₃ laser host for new laser lines in visible region spectra and its possibilities will be also discussed.

We report the growth by liquid phase epitaxy and laser operation at 2.012 micrometers of Tm:YAG planar waveguides with various concentrations (4 to 10 at %), lengths (3,4 mm) and active layer thicknesses (8 to 30 micrometers ). The pumping source was 1 W GaAlAs SDL diode emitting at 785 nm and the cavity consisted of 2 plane mirrors butted to the waveguide endfaces. Initial results have been obtained with a 6% doped, 4 mm long and 14.6 micrometers thick, Tm:YAG epilayer: Thresholds occurred at respectively 60 mW and 300 mW of incident power (48 mW and 136 mW of absorbed power taking in account pump feedback by the output couplers) for output mirrors transmissions of 2% and 12% respectively. Slope efficiencies of 32% and 48% with respect to absorbed power have been achieved with these output transmissions. With Ti:sapphire pumping an using 1.8% output coupling, laser threshold as low as approximately equals 10 mW and slop efficiencies of approximately equals 30% have been obtained in a range of different Tm:YAG waveguides. This performance is comparable to the best results published until now for bulk crystals.

Investigation of the spectroscopic properties and laser performance of rare earth and transition metal ions doped crystals (garnets) is presented. Recent spectroscopic results of energy transfer and back transfer mechanism in Cr:Tm:Ho:YAG, Cr:Tm:Ho:LuAG (Lu₃Al₅O₁₂) at a variety of temperatures (10K-300K) will be reported. A direct energy transfer from Tm³⁺ excited states to Ho^{3+ 5}I₇ lasing level was observed and analyzed. Multipolar interaction between special sites of Cr³⁺ and rare earth lasing ions (Tm³⁺, Ho³⁺), which results from a strong correlation placement distribution was found and analyzed. The effect of this interaction on the enhancement of laser efficiency will be discussed. The room temperature performance and the laser parameters of broadly tunable solid state lasers (at 1150-1600 nm), based on Cr⁴⁺ doped different garnets will be presented and discussed as well.

Fluorophospates and fluorovanadates are efficient solid state laser materials with promising new applications, especially for diode pumping of microchip lasers. High quality, low loss Nd doped Sr₅(PO₄)₃F, Ca₅(PO₄)₃F, Sr₅(VO₄)₃F and Ca₅(VO₄)₃F crystals were grown by the Czochralski technique. The lattice vibrations of the host material are studied by polarized Raman spectroscopy. The Raman active modes are determined by the irreducible representations of the space group of the crystal, and they provide insight to the crystal symmetry and chemical bonding. In all four compounds the internal and external vibrations are separated in the Raman spectra indicating that the internal binding of the (PO₄)^-3 and (VO₄)^-3 tetrahedra is different from the other ionic forces in the crystals. The group of internal modes in the fluorovanadates is shifted to lower frequencies by more than 100 cm^-1 compared with the fluorophosphates, though the x-ray structures are isomorphous. In addition there are remarkable changes in intensity, which may be attributed to interaction among the tetrahedral subunits in the hexagonal unit cell. The substitution of Sr for Ca causes frequency shifts in the vibrational modes. These are discussed with respect to the mass effect and changes in the coupling strength due to the differences between alkaline-earth cation binding and oxygen binding in the tetrahedral subunits. A comparison of the various substitutions makes assignments of the vibrational modes possible.

The search for an efficient solid state laser with tunable emission in the ultraviolet wavelength region has resulted in the growth and development of cerium doped colquiriite crystals, such as LiCaAlF₆ (LiCAF) and LiSrAlF₆ (LiSAF). Results from preliminary research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory indicate that Ce:LiSAF is the preferred material of the colquiriite hosts, since it shows higher gains than Ce:LiCAF. Although the growth of chromium doped LiSAF has been developed to produce long boules of near-scatter-free material, the doping of LiSAF with cerium introduces different variables into the growth of high optical quality crystals. The main crystal growth issue for Ce:LiSAF is the charge compensation mandated by the substitution of the trivalent cerium ion for divalent strontium, which is located in the only site large enough to support the cerium ion. Initial growth runs produced opaque, heavily cracked crystals with less than 10 mm of cleaner, single crystal material. The addition of charge compensating ions into the starting charge and their effect in attaining higher doped and less-stressed material is discussed. The selection of growth parameters needed to produce higher-doped, near-scatter-free Ce:LiSAF will also be described.

Recently Cr₄₊-doped tunable laser crystals has become one kind of very important laser mediums. Cr⁴⁺ ions on a tetrahedral site is responsible for the near-infrared laser emission. It shows great promise as a very useful and practical laser crystal in many areas. It is also an important way to reach the tunable laser wavelength to 1.55 u which is the minimal dispersion region in optical fibers. In this paper we report some new development on Cr⁴⁺ doped tunable laser crystal which were finished in our lab. Cr⁴⁺ doped forsterite crystal is the first one in this area. By growing this crystal in oxygen atmosphere, considerable amount of Cr⁴⁺ occurs from the oxidation of Cr³⁺. A special technique had been adopted to protect the oxidation of Ir crucible. The second is Cr⁴⁺-doped YAG crystal, Ca²⁺ or Mg²⁺ codoped Cr:YAG host crystal has been grown in our lab, sized in 30 X 100 mm with excellent optical quality. We failed to produce Cr⁴⁺ in many host crystal, such as YAP, Al₂O₃ by oxidizing atmosphere or codoped with Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺.

It is established the accordance between the values of the electron bioscillator and molecular models of the crystals. The absorption band displacement of the solution both liquid and solid about the absorption band of the pure crystal activator is found to be explained by the consumption of the energy on the solubility. Optical pumping and the stimulated emission are demonstrated to take place on the direct valence electron transitions and the indirect conduction electron transitions respectively by a correlation between spectroscopic plasmas properties of aquaphilous crystals and water crystal solutions, pure activators and activated laser crystals of ruby and Nd-doped yttrium aluminum garnet. The stimulated emissions of the aquaphilous crystals are predicted.

Solid-state laser sources in the visible and ultraviolet have several advantages over gas laser sources with regard to size, efficiency, lifetime, and amplitude stability. We will discuss the approaches that we have taken to build compact solid-state lasers operating at 532 nm, 430 nm, and 266 nm. We will review the different techniques we use to generate these wavelengths and consequent implications for performance characteristics such as output power, spatial mode, noise, and the possibility for modulation.

We report what is to our knowledge the first generation of femtosecond light pulses in the wavelength range from 172.7 to 187 nm in an all- solid-state system operating at kilohertz repetition rate. Phase-matched sum frequency mixing in lithium triborate (LBO) between the fourth harmonic of a femtosecond Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier and the idler pulses from a traveling wave optical parametric generator pumped by the same amplifier is used to approach these unprecedented short UV wavelengths. Estimations of the achieved pulse duration yield values below 200 fs in the whole vacuum UV tuning range. At 180 nm we measure single pulse energies as high as 50 nJ.

In 1991 an alexandrite based blue laser was developed with its wavelength locked to the cesium (Cs) absorption line at 455.6 nm. The device was used to successfully demonstrate two-way airplane-submarine communications.

With the advent of high-power laser pump diodes, significant reductions in solid state laser system weight and size are possible due to the efficient coupling of electrical to optical energy. Typical electrical conversion efficiencies for laser diode arrays are 45% for operation up to 20% duty cycle regime. The substantial saving in system weight and size is not primarily due to reductions in the pump module, but rather in the size of power supplies and cooling equipment. Used in conjunction with a Nd:YAG zig-zag slab configuration, diode array pumping allows for simple heat removal and uniform excitation of the gain region. In this paper we will discuss the performance of a compact zig-zag slab laser designed to operate in rugged military or space environments. The laser is air cooled, battering powered and designed to be man-portable with a total weight of 7.5 kg. The frequency doubled output energy at 532 nm is 270 mJ per pulse at 10 PPS.

Upconversion laser emission at 550 nm is reported for Er:YAlO₃. Lasing was produced using both sequential two step pumping and cross relaxation energy transfer. In addition, photon avalanche upconversion pumping was demonstrated. Selection among these pumping mechanisms is determined by the pump wavelength, and laser operation was obtained with excitation between 785 nm and 840 nm. The highest laser output power was achieved at 34 degree(s) K, where 976 mW of pump power at 806.9 nm produced 166 mW of TEM₀₀ emission. The optical conversion efficiency was 17%. For photon avalanche upconversion pumping at 791.3 nm, 33 mW was produced. The optical conversion efficiency was 3.5%, but the conversion efficiency based on absorbed power is 28%.

Lasing at 381 nm (⁴D_3/2 - ⁴I_9/2) and at 412 nm (²P_3/2 - ⁴I_9/2) has been observed in a Nd³⁺- doped ZBLAN fiber at room temperature with a single pump laser operating in the 580 to 600 nm wavelength region. The output power, excitation spectrum, line width, and temporal behavior of the laser are discussed.

A small flashlamp pumped titanium sapphire laser has been designed and demonstrated in the UK. The laser head is a close coupled configuration with a single linear flashlamp. It has produced up to 1.68 J/pulse in the free-running scheme at a repetition rate of 10 Hz, with an efficiency of almost 1%. Wavelength tuning from 675 nm to 975 nm has been demonstrated, as have Q-switching, shortening the pulse duration to 20 ns, line narrowing to 2 angstrom and second harmonic generation. Some applications are considered.

Noncritical temperature-tuned phase-matching and large nonlinear coefficients make potassium niobate an attractive material for frequency doubling tuneable near-infrared radiation. We have mounted a KNbO₃ crystal intracavity in an argon ion pumped, continuous wave Ti:Sapphire ring laser to increase the power level of the second harmonic. Wavelength selection at the fundamental frequency is accomplished with a birefringent filter. By using the crystal orientation that defines the d₃₂ coefficient of KNbO₃ we have obtained a blue second harmonic output tuneable from 425-445 nm. The laser is also characterized by the narrow linewidth of the Ti:Sapphire ring oscillator and good temporal stability. A continuous wave, frequency doubled Ti:sapphire laser is well suited to excite the resonance Raman spectrum in heme proteins with strong absorption bands in the range of 400 to 450 nm. We demonstrate the feasibility of such a setup for Raman studies of ligand binding to myoglobin. The Raman bands yield information on the reaction dynamics and on conformational changes near the linkage between the heme and the protein. In particular, a shift of the stretch frequency of the iron- histidine bond with high pressure may be attributed to a protein conformational change.

A variety of applications require short, energetic laser pulses delivered at high repetition rate. These include micro-machining, range finding, and scientific applications such as amplifier pumping. An important advantage provided by diode-end-pumping of solid state lasers is that this type of geometry allows the generation of short, energetic, Q-switched pulses at high repetition rate. The high peak power of such pulses facilitates harmonic generation. In this paper, we describe a high average power, high repetition rate Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ laser, pumped by a fiber-coupled diode bar. The laser provides pulses of excellent spatial quality at repetition rates up to 100 kHz, average power 3-4 W, and durations of 8 to 20 nsec. The near-diffraction-limited beam and the high peak power allow efficient harmonic generation at high repetition rates. Second harmonic generation is achieved in non- critically-phase-matched LBO with a conversion efficiency of 55% at 20 kHz, providing an average power of 1.75 W at 532 nm. third harmonic generations (to 355) in LBO has been achieved with > 20% efficiency, resulting in an ultraviolet average power of 0.65 W at 20 kHz.

The diversity and proliferation of 'real-world' laser applications continues to put increasing demand on laser technology. New system constraints, often dictated by the operation environment, stretch the capabilities of conventional laboratory lasers. As the applications proliferate, so too do the users. Today's laser user is often not a laser engineer, but rather views the laser simply as a tool to help him perform his job. For lasers to reach their true market potential, laser designers must respond to these user-mandated requirements with simple, compact, rugged devices. Traditional commercial lasers are far too large, bulky and complex for many of these new applications. Design techniques for shrinking, simplifying the ruggedizing solid-state lasers for today's applications will be discussed.

The pulse output energy of the electron-beam pumped XeF(C->A) laser system has been increased by nearly two orders of magnitude relative to previously demonstrated values, to 170 J. This performance was achieved in an existing laser device, referred to as Scale-Up, which is pumped by a pair of three meter long, counterpropagating electron beams. The device was equipped with subaperture mirrors which were coated to be reflective in the blue-green portion of the visible spectrum. The reflectivity of the output coupler of the folded stable cavity was carefully selected to maximize the laser output energy. This choice involved a trade-off between the amount of time required for the intracavity flux to build up from noise to the saturation level, and the energy extraction efficiency under steady state oscillating conditions. The observed optical pulse duration of 0.8 microsecond(s) was in good agreement with the prediction of a flux buildup model which was developed during the design phase of this effort. The demonstrated specific output energy of 1.7 J/L was comparable to that previously achieved in small scale lasing tests which were also performed under free-running conditions. This proved that the XeF(C->A) laser system is volumetrically scalable to high output energy per pulse. No evidence of laser oscillation on the competing XeF(B->X) transition was observed. The pulse-average electron-beam pump rate was 140 kW/cm³, and the electron-beam pulse duration was 1.7 microsecond(s) . The ability to operate this low gain laser system at a moderate pump rate greatly relaxes the constraints on the design of the electron gun and pulse power subsystems, making construction of a high average power laser device possible.

Alumina plates (Gas-cooling plates) were inserted into the plasma tube of copper vapor lasers to cool the buffer gas at the center of the plasma tube. Consequently, the laser intensity increased, especially at the center, and higher output power was obtained. It was revealed by measurement that the gas-cooling plates reduce the buffer gas temperature and the lower laser level density of copper atoms at the center of the plasma tube. Output characteristics were measured by varying the repetition frequency. Plate insertion improved the central intensity at higher frequencies. Output power was most dependent on the frequency with the plate inserted, and increased proportionally as the frequency increased.

We have applied magnetic assist and magnetic pulse compression to copper vapor laser and studied the switching characteristics, especially with the attention to the energy dissipation characteristics. As for magnetic assist, a suitable delay time was studied. And 2-stage MPC was designed using a simulation code and an all solid state driver with SI thyristors was developed.

This paper reports simulation and experimental details of a novel phase shifting technique based on laser interferometry. Phase shifting is one of the most promising techniques for the fabrication of high density DRAM's. In recent years many kinds of phase shifting methods have been proposed to extend the resolution limit and contrast of image patterns. These techniques however, have several problems that result from the phase shift elements on the mask, especially when applied to UV excimer laser illumination. A new technique will be described that is based on a one-layered reticle which is used as both a reflective and transmissive mask, irradiated from both the front and the back sides. A combination of both off-axis illumination, as well as phase shift are used in the new method. Both the relative path length of the two beams as well as their amplitude can be manipulated in such a way that near 100% contrast can be achieved in the final image. Experimental as well as simulation data are used to demonstrate this new method.

Rare gas and rare gas-oxygen mixtures have been excited with e-beams, leading to new emission features in the ultraviolet. Strong new emission bands are observed at 185.0 and 204.5 nm in the case of Ar/O₂ mixtures. Time dependence measurements of these Ar/oxygen bands suggest that they either have a common origin or a common precursor. New emission features arising from the interaction of Kr and oxygen have also been recorded following excitation of Kr/O₂ and Kr/N₂O mixtures.

The results of experimental investigation of factors which restrict the gas lifetime in pulsed discharge and electron beam pumped ArF and KrF for micromachining, medicine, and short-pulse excimer lasers have been presented. The correlation in between gas mixture lifetime and constant rate of fluorine concentration decrease has been observed. It has been determined that the main canal of fluorine concentration decrease is the reaction of formation of metal fluorides of electrodes. Compositions of gas phase impurities of laser mixture which are formed during the laser operating and their influence on the characteristics of laser emission have been ascertained. An absence of appreciable influence of absorption and scattering of laser emission by impurities has been revealed. The mechanism of influence of solid-state impurities on lasing energy has been suggested.

The conclusion based on the experimental data in an argon-ion laser with the wide-bore tube is made that the reason unknown before consisting in the saturation of quenching of the upper level must be added to the known reasons of the output saturation versus the discharge current. Under certain conditions the inverted dependences of both output power and the saturation parameter at 488 nm and 514 nm lines on argon pressure are observed which demonstrate that the electron quenching of the upper level is not the only reason for quenching of the upper levels of the excited ions in discharge tube plasma of an argon-ion laser.

The properties and low pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy of Ga_xIn$1-x)P/(AlGa)_0.5In_0.5P quantum well (QW) laser diode heterostructures with Al_0.5In_0.5P cladding layers, and having wavelength 614 < (lambda) < 754 nm, are described. At longer wavelengths ((lambda) > 660 nm), threshold current densities under 200 A/cm² and efficiencies greater than 75% result form a biaxially- compressed GaInP QW active region. Although short wavelength laser performance is diminished by the poor electron confinement afforded by AlGaInP heterostructures, good 630 nm band performance is achieved with strained, single QW active regions. The wavelength range may also be expanded into the previously difficult 700-nm band, by including InGaAsP or AlGaAsP QWs.

With continued improvements in materials growth and device fabrication the output power from visible high power semiconductor lasers has been steadily increasing. This paper presents data on high power semiconductor lasers in the visible wavelength around 690 nm operating at room temperature. This InGaAIP broad area 200 micron by 1 micron stripe diode laser that operates at 750 milliwatts output power, and has a threshold current density of435 Amps/cm2. The laser structure was grown by MOCTD on a gallium arsenide substrate and incorporate a tensile strained single quantum well separate confinement heterostructure, a composition profile ofthe laser structure is shown in Fig 1. A 200 micron stripe was defined by proton bombardment, and the wafer was cleaved into 800 micron long cavities. The laser facets were AR and HR coated. The chips were mounted on a custom manufactured oxygen free high conductivity copper heatsink. The laser heat sinks were designed to be as small as possible while still providing adequate heat sinking for the laser chip, at the rated output power ofthe diode. The lasers were initially tested (power Vs current) and then burned in for 1 00 hours at rated output power and after burn-in the diodes were measured for efficiency, beam divergence, wavelength, and power Vs current. The threshold current is around 700 milliamps, and the lasers have a slope efficiency of 0.7 watt/Amps, Fig 2 is the power Vs current for a typical unit. With a forward voltage of these diodes in the 2.3-2.3 range and the overall efficiency is 20 percent. Several lasers have been operated up to 1 watt power at 2.1 Amps drive current Fig 3 is power Vs current for these lasers. At this level the laser shows signs ofbeginning to roll over because ofthermal dissipation. Far field beam divergences both parallel to the junction and perpendicular to the junction the full width half maximum divergences was 6 degrees and in the plane perpendicular to the junction the full width half maximum divergence was typically 32 Degrees Fig 4. The spectral width of these high power visible lasers is about 1 nanometer, in Fig 5. The horizontal scale is2 cm per division. Commercially available lasers are packaged in a high heat load package with TE cooler, monitor diode, and thermistor for sensing diode temperature. The TE cooler is rated at 40 watts (5 Amps, S Volts) and the monitor sensitivity is around 10 micro/Amps per milliwatts output at 0 Volt bias

Operation of a laser pumped zig-zag dye laser for pulse lengths > 1 microsecond(s) with beam quality close to the diffraction limit are presented in this paper. Laser efficiency measurements performed with a stable cavity had outputs of greater than 1.7 J at 568 nm using Pyrromethene-567 dye. The intrinsic laser efficiency was 55% with a slope efficiency of 77%. Single longitudinal mode operation was achieved using an unstable resonator with intracavity etalons and seeding with a single mode Kr-ion laser operating at 568 nm. A linear optical cavity using counter- propagating orthogonally polarized waves was used. Heterodyne measurements were used to determine that the bandwidth was near the transform limit with the frequency chirping at a rate approximately equals 60 MHz/microsecond(s) . Far field measurements of the beam quality indicated close to diffraction limited output.

Flashlamp pumped dye lasers are a well known source of high power, tunable, visible radiation by dye solution photo-degradation restricts their operational life and so limits their applications. This study is the first stage in the development of a selective process to extend their life. Initial studies have shown that, in methanol and water Rhodamine 590 chloride solutions, very few of the dye molecules are lost when lasing action ceases and that the cause of the reduced output is a build-up of optical losses at the lasing wavelength.

A dye laser pumped by AlGaInP laser diodes produced efficient, low threshold operation at wavelengths between 740 and 800 nm. Rhodamine 700, oxazine 750, DOTCI and oxazine 1 dyes were demonstrated. Optical conversion efficiencies approaching 50% and output power as high as 360 mW were obtained when pumping with a DCM-based dye laser. Parametric variations of the pump power and wavelength were performed over the range of 615 nm to 690 nm to provide a more complete characterization of the dye laser.

We describe experimental results of the conversion of a commercially available pulsed dye laser into a Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) dye laser. The dye laser power amplifier served not only as an amplification stage, but also as the SBS mirror medium. We present far- field dye laser and SBS dye laser beam profiles for comparison. The SBS dye laser produced a 56% improvement in the dye laser beam brightness. These results have important implications for improved nonlinear frequency conversion processes such as frequency doubling/mixing or optical parametric oscillation.

The world's first high efficient quasi-CW polymer dye laser is described. An average output power of more than 6 W was achieved in a broad band operation mode, at 25 kHz pulse repetition frequency. A tunability over 555-660 nm wavelength range was demonstrated in a narrow band operation mode with minimum 0.5 W of average output power. A stable operation of the polymer laser for more than 2 hours was observed at output power level of 4 W. The integrated output energy of 30 kJ was obtained from one polymer element that corresponds o 220 million pulses.

Coumarin 1 exhibited dual amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in certain solvents under nitrogen laser excitation. These emissions are known as normal and anomalous emissions. The anomalous emission corresponds to TICT state and it does not have a corresponding fluorescence peak. Energy transfer techniques have been used to study the photophysics of TICT states and the characteristics of dual ASE bands of the dye coumarin 1.

Polymer filled porous glass impregnates with dye molecules is used as an active medium. The most important feature of this medium is that its thermo-optical and mechanical parameters are determined by a matrix of silica which thermo-optical constants are better by two orders of magnitude then those of polymers. The investigation of generation characteristics of solid state dye laser on basis of Rhodamine 6G has shown the feasibility of its application in pulse coherent pumping laser systems. The generation thresholds are practically the same for solid state and ethanol solution. The yield of conversion of pumping energy into generation energy for solid state active element is up to 50%. The advantages of solid state active element based on polymer filled porous glass matrix realize at high temperature operation mode, for instance at frequency mode. The step refraction index temperature dependence for polymers results in increase of optical with increase of pumping energy. In the reported medium this effect does not occur nonuniformity up to pumping energy values exceeding the generation threshold by 40-50 times. Polymer based active media are destructed at the exposition of 50 ns pulses with energy of 1 J/cm² while porous glass + polymer + Rhodamine 6G composition is not destructed at the exposition of energy up to 7-10 J/cm². The introduced solid state dye laser is intended to be used in on-board systems, including vacuum under low temperature, where the application of flow systems operation is problematic. It should be emphasized, that using the synthesized compositions, the generation mode with microsecond pulse pumping becomes available. It opens the possibility for application of flashlamp for pumping.

Simple dye laser with the solid state polymeric active medium pumped by the second harmonic of Nd:YAG laser (532 nm) is presented. Active medium is made of dye-doped polyurethane acrylate (PUA) prepared by radical photopolymerization. Laser dyes in PUA are characterized by some peculiarities in spectral and photochemical properties which are important for lasing. To attain high laser efficiency, the hemispherical resonator with total length of 12 cm was used. In this case laser efficiency exceeds 30% with tuning range of 545-750 nm and spectral linewidth 0.4 nm. For removing the thermo-optical distortions in active polymeric medium and increasing its operational lifetime the original scanning system of active element has been constructed. It provides a possibility to realize the repetition rate up to 25 Hz (at peak intensity up to 80 MW/cm²) and to obtain the operational lifetime more than one million pulses for the proposed dyes. The elaborated laser has the certain advantages as compared to solid state Ti:Sapphire laser in relation to the peak power output and optical damage of active medium.

This report is dealing with the problem of discovery the crude oil (or oil products) discharge on the sea bottom and elaboration methods for optical distant environmental control from aircraft. Application of the aviation methods permits to ensure the environmental monitoring of the sea surface and the undersurface water layers and also on shelf.

In work presents the results of experimental researches active spectrozonal systems with laser illumination and direct comparison of signals of passive and active systems in real marine conditions. The distinction of signals, is marked by these systems in nonuniform optical conditions of coastal zone.

The relative XeF(B-X) emission spectra from the steady-state vacuum ultraviolet photolysis of XeF₂ in presence of the bath gas (He, Ar, Kr, Xe) have been used to study the energy relaxation of XeF(B,C) molecules. The measurements were carried out at two photolysis wavelengths (160 and 135 nm) for analysis of different ranges of vibrational levels. XeF^*(B) vibrational and rotational distributions were assigned for various bath gas pressures. Significant rotational heating resulting from collision induced energy exchange was registered. Numerical modeling of XeF(B) vibrational populations and the intensity ratio as a function of pressure leads to the model for state-to-state processes. Vibrational relaxation within electronic state can be described by one-quantum transitions. For He as the bath gas, electronic state transfer is characterized by an exponential gap low. The large loss of vibrational energy per collision in Ar, Kr, and Xe is satisfactorily described by electronic state-changing collisions. The rotational temperatures observed in emission spectra correspond to average vibrational energy, which is lost in collision induced electronic transitions. Modeling of XeF^* energy relaxation in Xe showed that there is a dependence of quenching efficiency on the vibrational level number.

A new band, with two peaks at 486 nm and 656 nm, respectively, has been observed in microwave-excited high pure oxygen. The reason that the new band is assigned to O₂(¹Δ g) dimer transitions is presented. A net gain of 2.2% cm^-1 for 486 mm emission has been obtained by the method of amplified spontaneous emission. The laser oscillation has been realized at 486 nm with a flat-concave stable resonator, its maximum output power is about 130 (mu) w.