Characterization of Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV) Radiation for the Development of a Fluorescent Lamp

A negative unipolar pulsed voltage is applied to study internal electrical parameters of the xenon filled dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) sources. The VUV radiation emitted from these sources is characterized by means of the photoluminescence intensity of the red phosphor pellet. The red phosphor converts the VUV radiation into visible radiation and the emission spectra include a peak at 619.56 nm. The emission characteristics of the red phosphor are analyzed in terms of the pressure-distance (pd), rise time and frequency of the pulsed voltage waveform. The emission intensity measured at different operational conditions confirms that the formation and decay of the xenon excimer, Xe(2)(+), increase with the increase in reduced electric field, E/N. After exceeding certain limits of E/N, the intensity of Xe(2)* decreases rapidly.