Generation of 0.336-J, 10-Hz, 266-nm pulses from Nd:YAG laser using large Li/sub 2/B/sub 4/O/sub 7/ nonlinear crystals

Summary form only given. We have confirmed the long-term stability of the fourth harmonic generation of a Nd:YAG laser by use of Li/sub 2/B/sub 4/O/sub 7/ crystals with a cascade scheme. We report 336-mJ, 266-nm pulse generation from a 10-Hz, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with a total conversion efficiency of 23%, and the long-term stability of over 5 hour. This performance is sufficiently good for the pump source of the TW-class UV femtosecond laser system. Additionally this high pulse energy UV laser is attractive for the substitution of the most of industrial KrF excimer lasers used for annealing applications.