N G Basov's role in the development of excimer lasers: a half-century history from the launch of the first Xe2 laser at the Lebedev Physical Institute to modern laser systems

In a review dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of academician N G Basov, the fate of one of his scientific predictions is traced: obtaining lasing at bound-free transitions of liquid xenon. Launched at the Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI) of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1970, the Xe2 laser pumped by an electron beam marked a new dimension in laser physics: the advent of high-power excimer lasers generating radiation in the range from visible to vacuum ultraviolet. The main types and excitation methods of excimer lasers and the properties of their gain medium are considered. The most powerful pulsed excimer laser systems designed for laser thermonuclear fusion and amplification of UV multiterawatt ultrashort pulses are described, as well as repetition-rate lasers for applications in medicine, microelectronics, material processing, etc.