Researchers have created the first low-power flexible vacuum ultraviolet lamp, which could eventually become an alternative light source to low-pressure mercury lamps or deuterium lamps.
The lamp emits high-energy ultraviolet (UV) light at the shortest wavelengths ever recorded from devices measuring from 140 to 220 nanometres.
The lamp can be useful in medicine, and for a number of electronic applications as well.
"Our lamp is a promising light source in terms of lifetime, size, heat conduction and stability. It has the potential to be an excellent alternate light source to low-pressure mercury lamps, excimer lamps and deuterium lamps," said Shingo Ono of Nagoya Institute of Technology in Japan, in a press release.
The device was created by growing a luminescent "phosphor" from a thin sheet of a material containing fluorine, magnesium and potassium, according to the release.
The new phosphor produces no significant heat and is flexible, according to the release.
It has been recognized as the first solid stat UV phosphor ever developed.
"The new lamp avoids those issues because it was fabricated with a solid-state phosphor which is easy to make, avoids the use of toxic gasses and does not require expensive rare earth elements," the researchers said in a recent study.
Research was published in the journal APL-Materials this week.
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