Laser safety with excimer lasers

Assuring the safe use of excimer lasers presents a variety of challenges to the laser experimentalist and the laser safety professional. At Los Alamos National Laboratory dozens of excimer laser systems are used for research in a wide variety of areas including spectroscopy, photochemistry, material interactions, inertial confinement fusion, optical damage studies, military systems, and others. Experiments at Los Alamos have involved several excimer laser systems producing high energy or high power, including pulse energies of kilojoules and average powers of hundreds of watts. Excimer lasers are often found in conjunction with other laser sources and are accompanied by a variety of associated hazards. This paper is based on a decade of experience in addressing excimer laser hazards at Los Alamos. Several case studies address both common and unusual problems and present standard practices and unique solutions