No joke in actual fact if you look at my signature you'll notice
I have 337.1nm listed. This was one of a few slap together air (N2) lasers I built using a 40Kv stun gun circuit from Thailand and a 60Kvdc (25Kvac-30Kvac) rated homemade ~30nF rated PE foil cap.
Lab TEA N2 lasers use basically a similar setup except with higher voltages and larger capacitance in a clean enclosure. The output lenses are basically Quartz glass for optimum transmittance. The output is in the mid-long
UV spectrum
These are by far the easiest lasers to make.
N2 lasers are also used as a optical pump source for dye lasers because of their short high power pulses.
Sodium Flourescine (yellow highlighter) + ethanol in a quartz ampule = green yellow dye laser.
Dangerous because of UV... not completely true... the pulses while having a large peak energy averages probably in the range of around ~1mW or so.
You'd still be well advised to wear UV blocking glasses while operating this laser! 337.1nm can cause photochemical effects in the eye. Be warned.
*The real danger is the High Voltage supply and the capacitor bank. A charged capacitor bank can cause a fatal or severely damaging electric shock.
Another hazard is the rapid production of Ozone 03 and Nozone (Nitrous oxides NOx)
This is common in High voltage circuits but in this case both the HV and the laser light can produce it. Ozone is highly oxidizing and irritating to the lungs. NOx is a powerful vasodilator and can cause pulmonary edema in high concentrations.
Also somewhat related is a TEA CO2 laser that can induce air breakdown.
that's an deep IR laser
