Subject: how do star wars blasters work?

I want to know how they work. All the desciptions say they excite a gas, the 
gas passes into an actuator where the gas is converted into a laser. How does 
this work? My theory is that the gas is excited so it can pass a high voltage 
into the actuator where a laser waits, much like a Tesla coil. Can you tell me 
what is an actuator, and how does it work in the movies?

Re: how do star wars blasters work?