A bright continuous-wave laser source at 193 nm

This Letter reports on the realization of a highly coherent light source at 193 nm. By frequency-quadrupling an amplified diode laser, over 15 mW of laser emission could be generated using the nonlinear crystal potassium fluoro-beryllo-borate. The high stability of the setup was proven in an 80 h-measurement, and the impact of the crystal transmission on the output power was thoroughly studied. This laser source is an ideal tool for photoemission spectroscopy and reaches the power level to replace excimer lasers in metrological applications.