Planar UV excilamp excited by a surface barrier discharge

Abstract

In this paper, the typical characteristics of a planar excilamp based on KrCl* and XeCl* exciplex molecules are presented. The excitation of the working mixture Kr/Xe/Cl2 is realized by means of the surface barrier discharge at pressures of 0.1–1 bar. The following properties are measured and discussed: spectra emitted by the plasma in the UV/VIS/NIR spectral range, intensity of emitted light versus total pressure in the discharge, the composition of the working mixture and the power of emitted light. The radiation power versus input electric power, and space distribution of the emitted light including basic electrical parameters of the discharge were also measured. It was shown that the characteristic power of UV radiation emitted in the spectral range 200–400 nm is about 6 mW cm−2 while the efficiency could be about 8%.