SURFACE CORONA DISCHARGE-EXCITED RARE-GAS HALIDE LAMPS

A simple surface corona discharge excitation technique has been used t o generate high repetition rate, high average power rare gas halide UV lamp radiation. The lamp exhibited reliable performance with very low jitter and high shot to shot reproducibility. An average power of 9 W of UV centered at 248 nm (KrF) was obtained from a small 7.0-cm-diam emitting surface. XeCl lamp lifetimes of over one billion shots were o btained on a single gas fill without the need for gas circulation or c ryogenic cleanup. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.