Among all, today the most important use for neon is in ultraviolet (UV) lasers, called excimer lasers. The term excimer is a short for excited dimer. This laser is especially good for making clean and precise cuts in the range of hundreds of nanometres. Since the UV laser produces no heat, it does not cause scaring which makes it popular in laser eye surgery (LASIK). In semiconductor manufacturing, it is used for lithography. Because its wavelength is so short it can create patterns in the wafer chip down to 193 nanometres.
Air Products' laser premix blends consist of very reactive, toxic and corrosive materials like fluorine and xenon. Creating an accurate and stable laser premix is very important to ensure a consistent laser output that leads to optimum and reproducible results. It is also important to ensure safety so that impurities do not react with components to form dangerous gases such as hydrogen fluoride.
