Excimer Lasers

Among the many intense light sources, excimer lasers have a unique set of properties that place them at the forefront of tooling for material processing. Their extreme versatility means that they can be used in many areas of materials science and medicine. But three conditions need to be fulfilled in order that their versatility be truly appreciated and exploited: the characteristics and limitations of the sources must be known; the basic excimer laser processes should become reasonably widely known; and problems in search of a solution should be clearly identified. This text covers all three of these points in an instructive and logical way. Both instrumental and fundamental aspects of excimer laser interaction with matter are presented, with examples drawn from a wide range of materials. The articles gathered here are tutorial in their nature, thus making them suitable for a wide readership, from recent graduates and postgraduate students to those established scientists entering the field.