laser /la·ser/ (la´zer) a device that transfers light of various frequencies into an extremely intense, small, and nearly nondivergent beam of monochromatic radiation in the visible region, with all the waves in phase; capable of mobilizing immense heat and power when focused at close range, it is used as a tool in surgery, in diagnosis, and in physiological studies. 
dye laser,
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Relative positions of various types of lasers on the electromagnetic spectrum.
argon laser a laser with ionized argon as the active medium, whose beam is in the blue and green visible light spectrum; used for photocoagulation.
carbon-dioxide laser a laser with carbon dioxide gas as the active medium, which produces infrared radiation at 10,600 nm; used to excise and incise tissue and to vaporize.
dye laser a laser with organic dye as the active medium, whose beam is in the visible light spectrum.
excimer laser a laser with rare gas halides as the active medium, whose beam is in the ultraviolet spectrum and penetrates tissues only a short distance; used in ophthalmological procedures and laser angioplasty.
helium-neon laser a laser with a mixture of ionized helium and neon gases as the active medium, whose beam is in the red visible light spectrum; used as a guiding beam for lasers operating at nonvisible wavelengths.
krypton laser a laser with krypton ionized by electric current as the active medium, whose beam is in the yellow-red visible light spectrum; used for photocoagulation.
KTP laser one in which a beam generated by a neodymium:YAG laser is directed through a potassium titanyl phosphate crystal to produce a beam in the green visible spectrum; used for photoablation and photocoagulation.
neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser a laser whose active medium is a crystal of yttrium, aluminum, and garnet doped with neodymium ions, and whose beam is in the near infrared spectrum at 1060 nm; used for photocoagulation and photoablation.
potassium titanyl phosphate laser KTP l.
dye laser,
a system of highly selective laser destruction of skin blemishes using various dyes at wavelengths at the longer oxygenated hemoglobin absorption peaks to overcome interference from overlying melanin.
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