Study of the service characteristics of a capacitive-discharge excilamp

The service life of sealed capacitive-discharge excilamps using the molecules KrCl* (222 nm) and XeBr* (282 nm) is studied as a function of the excitation power density, and the changes of the spectral composition of their radiation over their lifetime are investigated. The advantages of KrCl and XeBr capacitive-discharge excilamps in comparison with the known sources of spontaneous ultraviolet radiation are discussed. A long service life (1000 h and more), high radiation power densities (up to 50 mW/cm²), and high radiation efficiencies (up to 25%) are achieved, comparable to those obtained for excitation by barrier and glow discharges. It is shown that the capacitive discharge is promising for use in sealed sources of spontaneous emission utilizing exciplex molecules.