VUV lamps with a large emitting surface

This paper presents a new generation of mercury-free gas-discharge lamps wi th a uniformly emitting surface up to 60 mm in diameter and with magnesium fluoride windows featuring a shortwave cutoff at 113 nm. Radiation can be e mitted from the lamps by hydrogen or deuterium, in the continuum bands of i nert gases, or can be concentrated only in the resonance lines of krypton o r xenon. Such short-wavelength radiation with a photon energy up to 10.9 eV is used for photocuring polymer products, photocleaning of different kinds , and can be used for photoetching of large- and small-scale integrated cir cuits. (C) 1998 The Optical Society of America. [S1070-9762(98)01312-8].