Radiometric characterization of ultra-bright xenon short-arc discharge lamps for novel applications

Abstract

The latest generations of ultra-bright Xenon short-arc discharge lamps have prodigious emissions outside the visible spectrum, primarily in the near infrared. Their brightness distributions are spatially and angularly inhomogeneous due to both the pronounced non-uniformities of the plasma arc and the substantial infrared radiation from the hot electrodes. These characteristics are fortuitously favorable for applications in photonic surgery, biomedical diagnostics, hightemperature chemical reactors and furnaces: cases where the full lamp spectrum is utilizable, and the key is reconstituting the spectral power density of the optimal regions of the lamp's plasma at a remote target. The associated optical systems must be tailored to lamp radiometric properties that are not extensively available and invariably are restricted to visible light due to their widespread use in projection systems. We present experimental measurements for the spectral, spatial and angular distributions of 150 W lamps of this genre, and relate to their ramifications for broadband high-flux applications.

Light recycling characteristics of ultra-bright lamps

“…Measurements of the spectral brightness of commercial 150 W Xenon short-arc discharge lamps 9 were recently reported, including its spatial dependence within the plasma arc 10 . The same radiometric methods described in 10 were adopted here.…”