An auto-ionization pumped anti-Stokes Raman laser is disclosed which is capable of creating a population inversion between the ground state and a metastable state of an ionic lasing material. The lasing material is first pumped above a metastable energy level, where it subsequently falls via auto-ionization back to the metastable level. A second laser pump is employed to move the population from the metastable state to a region near an intermediate state of the lasing material. The population subsequently falls back to the initial ground ionic state, thereby creating the anti-Stokes Raman emission.
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