A gas laser in which the active species is an ion formed in the electric discharge. Most practically important lasers of this type have continuous wave (
CW) output. Examples are the argon ion, krypton ion and helium-cadmium (
HeCd) lasers.
Source:
PAC, 1995, 67, 1913. 'Nomenclature, symbols, units, and their usage in spectrochemical analysis-XV. Laser-based molecular spectroscopy for chemical analysis - laser fundamentals (IUPAC Recommendations 1995)' on page 1920 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199567111913)