VACUUM-ULTRAVIOLET RARE-GAS EXCIMER LIGHT-SOURCE

A dc electron beam at 20 keV is used for the excitation of pure rare g ases at pressures up to 1.7 bar. The well known second excimer continu a of argon, krypton, and xenon observed under these excitation conditi ons provide an efficient light source in the vacuum ultraviolet spectr al region between 120 and 200 nm. Thin (300 nm) SiNx foils are used as entrance windows for the low energy electron beam. Due to the flexibi lity of the production process of the thin foils one can consider vari ous shapes and sizes of the light emitting region to be manufactured. Efficiencies of similar to 30% are observed for the conversion of elec tron beam energy into light. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.