Abstract: Far infrared laser sources have many properties of strong penetration, low photon energy, wide bandwidth, large transmission capacity of communication, have been widely applications in public security, environmental monitoring, biomedical diagnostics, astronomical observation, military and communicational application, etc. The technological advantages of the optically pumped far infrared gas laser were gave by comparing a variety of ways to produce far infrared laser based on introducing their development. Summarized far-infrared laser mediums and their new lines of the recent years. At last, the research trends of optically pumped far infrared which were summarized by reviewing the continuous and pulsed optically pumped far-infrared gas laser development, combining with some of the key research directions in this field were indicated.