Patent ID: 7518787

Claim:
A laser light source comprising; a laser oscillator producing an output beam; a first amplifier amplifying said output beam to produce a first amplified beam, said first amplifier having a gain medium characterized by a saturation energy (E s, 1 ) and a small signal gain (g o, 1 ); and a second amplifier amplifying said first amplified beam to produce a second amplified beam, said second amplifier having a gain medium characterized by a saturation energy (E s, 2 ) and a small signal gain (g o, 2 ), with (g o, 1 )>(g o, 2 ) and (E s, 2 )>(E s, 1 ); wherein said first amplifier gain medium comprises a gas having a first gas composition and said second amplifier gain medium comprises a gas having a gas composition different from said first gas composition.