A review of metal vapor lasers (MVL) made progress in recent years is presented. including transverse discharge MVL and copper halide lasers. Walter criteria of three level system are summarized.

• 本文评述了金属蒸汽激光（MVL）的最新进展：横向放电与金属卤化物激光，概述了Walter判据，描述了MVL近年来的应用，讨论了MVL今后的发展方向。