An apparatus and method applicable for generating ultraviolet laser light having a wavelength in the 200-nm range and/or 250-nm range; in some embodiments, using a single fiber laser pump source (in some embodiments, a pulsed source). In some embodiments, the invention provides methods of generating 250-nm or 200-nm photons using a mode-locked 1000-nm fiber laser and efficient 4th/5th harmonic frequency up-conversion. In other embodiments, the invention uses continuous wave (cw) single-frequency fiber lasers and external resonant frequency conversion. In still other embodiments, the invention uses cw single-frequency optically-pumped semiconductor lasers (OPSLs) and electrically driven vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and externally resonant frequency conversion. All of these produce both of the ultraviolet wavelengths of interest