Ultraviolet light
Deep ultra-violet (UV) light in the UV-C spectral band has many important applications including use for chemical-free disinfection of surfaces, water and air, and as a light source for fluorescence-based chemical- and bio-sensors. The most widely used sources of UV-C light are mercury lamps but these have several technical and environmental disadvantages. Deep UV LEDs are an emerging technology which could revolutionise the generation of UV-C by providing compact solid-state sources. This could significantly expand the applications in which UV-C light can be used – in particular extending its use into more consumer products – but at the moment these devices have poor performance and very short lifetimes and it is not clear how rapidly these problems will be overcome. The development of a completely new and novel source of UV-C light that is efficient and cheap to manufacture is therefore highly attractive.
At SLE we are actively investigating a route to making an alternative light source that emits in the UV-C band. In particular, we are developing a compact ultra-violet laser component.
Photograph showing the laser beam spot
from our ultra-violet laser focused on a fluorescent card
By combining the unique properties of laser light and ultra-violet light in a single component product we expect to produce a light source that is not only more effective at disinfection but can enable new and exciting applications that will not be possible with UV LEDs. Discovering new applications of UV light, over and above disinfection, is a major element of the work we currently carry-out in the optoelectronics group at SLE.
