Deep UV-LEDs
What Are Deep UV-LEDs?
Technology to
purify water and air using
ultraviolet rays is put to practical use.
As a new generation alternative to the mercury lamp,
success and effective utilization in a wide range
of areas is expected.
The deep UV-LED is drawing attention as a light source of the new generation as an alternative to the mercury lamp.
In particular, not only UV curing, which was the main use of the mercury lamp,
but also utilizing the features of LEDs for purification of water and air,
applications in the medical field etc., application development in various fields is expected.
Features are safety, energy-savings, and long life.
Until now, mercury lamps have been used for purification of water and air.
However, since mercury adversely affects the human body and environment,
the Minamata Convention decided to limit it by 2020.
It was then that the Deep UV-LED began to draw attention.
The Deep UV-LED has very little harmful effect on the human body or the environment,
and has the features of being compact, energy saving, and long life.
Comparison of the mercury lamp and Deep UV-LED
| Wavelength | Operating voltage | Size | Warming-up time | Life | Environmental load | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury lamp | Multiple wavelengths | 100 to several tens of thousands V | Several cm to several m | 10 to 30 min. | 3,000 to 5,000 hours | High |
| Deep UV-LEDs | Arbitrary wavelength can be selected. | 5 to 10V | Several mm | 0 sec. | 10,000 hours or more | Low |
Manufacturing, export, import of mercury lamps are going to be prohibited, in principle.
In the diplomatic conference of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) held on October 10, 2013, in Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan, the international regulation for mercury Minamata Convention on Mercury toward prevention of mercury contamination was adopted. By this Convention, effected on August 16, 2017, manufacturing, export, and import of products using mercury are going to be prohibited, in principle.