Photochemical lasers on electronic molecular transitions

The main stages of the development of the photochemical method for exciting near-IR, visible, and UV gas lasers are briefly reviewed on the basis of studies performed at the Department of Quantum Radiophysics at the P. N. Lebedev Physics Institute and jointly with other institutes within the framework of a program for creating high-power explosion-pumped lasers under the supervision of academician N. G. Basov.