A windowless VUV excilamp

An open windowless excilamp capable of operating on argon (λ ～ 126 nm), krypton (～146 nm), and xenon (～172 nm) dimers is described. The lamp has a total radiating surface area of 23 × 23 = 529 cm². At a total power of ～0.8 W radiated through this area, the average output power density at λ ～ 126 nm is ～1.6 mW/cm² at a distance of 2 cm from the emitting surface. A pulsed discharge between insulator-coated anode and thin wire cathode ensures a high efficiency of the proposed radiation source operating in the vacuum ultraviolet spectral range.