New Breakthrough in Ultraviolet Lamps: High-Energy Light Has Shortest Wavelengths Ever Recorded

Scientists have made a breakthrough when it comes to UV lamps. They've created a solid-state lamp that emits high-energy ultraviolet (UV) light at the shortest wavelengths ever recorded for such a device. The new lamp could be used for industrial applications-everything from sterilizing medical devices to cleaning semiconductor substrates.

The new lamp emits wavelengths that range from 140 to 220 nanometers. This is within the range of vacuum-UV light, which is so named because while light of this energy can propagate in a vacuum, it is quickly absorbed by oxygen in the air.

Current existing commercial vacuum UV lamps are both bulky and expensive, and they use a lot of power. They also can have short lifetimes and contain toxic gasses that can pollute the environment and harm people. This new lamp, though, avoids these problems; it was created with a solid-state phosphor made from a thin film of KMgF3, which is easy to make, avoids the use of toxi gasses and does not require rare earth elements.

"Our lamp is a promising light source in terms of lifetime, size, heat conduction and stability," said Shingo Ono, one of the researchers, in a news release. "[It] has the potential to be an excellent alternate light source to low-pressure mercury lamps, excimer lamps and deuterium lamps."

The lamp itself could potentially be used to sterilize tools and surfaces. When the light strikes oxygen-containing molecules on a surface, it generates highly reactive oxygen radicals. These radicals can completely destroy any microbes contaminating a surface.

The new lamp could be extremely useful for future applications. Because it's not nearly as expensive, as well, its use could also be far more widespread. It could also be used on larger scales for industrial applications. The new lamps could potentially be more flexible in design and could also be smaller, longer lasting and relatively heat-free.

The findings are published in the journal APL Materials.