Pulsed Current-Mode Supply of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Excilamps for the Control of the Radiated Ultraviolet Power

Abstract

UV excimer lamps are efficient narrowband sources of UV radiation with applications in various domains. The issue of controlling the UV emission by means of the power supply associated with such lamps favors pulsed current-controlled generators. After having established the previous statements, we propose a dedicated power converter topology which implements the needed performances. The analysis of the degrees of freedom of this structure shows the capability of this pulsed supply to realize the control of both the pulses' current energy and of the mean power transferred to the lamp. Actual experimental realizations and measurement are presented and the feasibility and the performances of the proposed solutions are established.

Parametric study of dielectric barrier discharge excimer UV lamps supplied with controlled square current pulses

“…Focusing from now on this bulb (7), and for the I=1.4A condition, which has shown the best results, Figure 9 with the longest current pulses (range: 550ns -600ns) -this confirms the correlation between the gas current and the UV emission already mentioned in [3], and also visible on Figure 4. With respect to the bulb efficiency, it nevertheless appears that current pulses with duration in the 400ns -500ns offer the best performances.…”

“…The applicability of these DBD excilamps has been demonstrated; today, studies are oriented toward the improvement of their performance. This can be achieved by means of the bulb design (geometry, filling mixture, pressure and materials) [2], [3] and also by selecting the most performing electrical operating conditions [4], [5].These both optimization paths are the purpose of this paper: the characteristics of the candidate bulbs, which performances will be experimentally compared, are presented in §2 and an estimation of the parameters of their equivalent circuit model is displayed. Associated to this set of lamps, the selected power supply, by means of a square shape current source generator is presented in §3: the operating principles of this topology, together with its performances are presented; elements for the design of the actual generator, specifically developed for this study are also proposed.…”

Efficiency of an Exciplex DBD Lamp Excited Under Different Methods

“…In fact the UV emission is controlled by the gas current (i G current, as defined on the equivalent circuit of Fig.1 scheme). This mechanism has already been highlighted in [11].…”

“…3, UV emission takes place only when a current is flowing through the DBD bulb. The UV waveform shows a very tight correlation between the magnitudes of the current (absolute value) and of the UV pulses [11].…”

“…Theoretical analysis of the DBD electrical model and laboratory experiments has demonstrated that the electrical quantity (related to the power supply) which actually defines the electrical power supplied to a DBD lamp is the DBD current, which equals the G conductance current i G during the discharge [10], [11].…”