360nm UV on eBay. What's your opinion?

PhotonWrangler

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Messages
14,432
Location
In a handbasket
Re: 360nm UV on eBay. What\'s your opinion?

From the auction site -
[ QUOTE ]

Package: 5mm water clear epoxy with UV inhibitor


[/ QUOTE ]

Huh? Wouldn't a UV inhibitor effectively block any UV from escaping the LED?
 

big_guy

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 21, 2005
Messages
62
Re: 360nm UV on eBay. What\'s your opinion?

Hehe:) Nice catch PW!

I take it to mean the LED it's self is protected from UV rays from the sun which would destroy them with extended exposure. Most other colors also have that statement included.

It is a puzzeling statement when coupled with a
UV led /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif
 

moesciphish

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 30, 2005
Messages
33
Re: 360nm UV on eBay. What\'s your opinion?

hmm.. interesting.. though 360 isn't the lowest wv that you can get, Roithner offers a 350. I dunno, I checked out there website and they seem legit, but as far as quality, who knows.
 

The_LED_Museum

*Retired*
Joined
Aug 12, 2000
Messages
19,414
Location
Federal Way WA. USA
Re: 360nm UV on eBay. What\'s your opinion?

The seller is The Fox Group, based in Canada.
So yes, you can trust them. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I have tested their 360nm UV LED, and yes, it is all its cracked up to be.

From my website, comes this:

The Fox Group, 360nm 5mm UVA LED, $TBA
Received and tested on 06-13-05

This is a 5mm water-clear epoxy bodied LED that emits primarily UVA radiation peaking at 360nm.
An LED that emits UVA isn't exactly new, but this wavelength (360nm) is fairly uncommon.

The Fox Group has begun mass-producing this lamp, so LEDs emitting in this wavelength range should be considerably easier to find these days.
rainbow.gif
These lamps are sold under the name "FoxUV".

According to the supplied spec sheet, this information applies to these LEDs:

o Deep UV wavelength, highly consistent
o HVPE epitaxy process, patent protected, unique in the industry
o UV lamps for industrial curing applications and medical/biomedical uses

foxuv1.jpg

Photograph of the LED itself in the test set.
The LED emits visible radiation that is significantly less intense than what is depicted in this photograph. The LED does not generate enough visible radiation for me to furnish a beam photograph, which is why you don't see one here.

foxuv2.jpg

Photograph of the LED's die, illuminated.
Light does not have that magenta color to it as depicted in this photograph.
The visible output is a dim whitish-lavender color, not bright magenta.
Beam angle is stated as 10-15°.

According to my unbelievably crude TDC Mark VII power measuring apparatus, this LED has an optical output of 0.315mW (315µW - µW=microwatts) at a forward current (If) of 20.52mA.

This power measuring apparatus consists of a solar cell, a DMM (with the solar cell connected and the meter set to read milliamps), and a mathematical formula that translates the meter reading to milliwatts of output power. The mathematical formula I used was:
(current in milliamps as shown on meter)*1239.7/360/0.97

*** VERY, VERY IMPORTANT!!! *** I don't know how well this solar cell responds to such short wavelengths, so the power measurement I took of this LED should be taken with plenty of crystalline sodium chloride (grains of salt).

UPDATE: 07-04-05
After operating for several hundred hours, the LED light's visible output has not changed significantly, but the visible color has shifted to a more purplish-white tint, instead of the bluish-purplish-white tint that unused LEDs from the same batch have.
 

PhotonWrangler

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Messages
14,432
Location
In a handbasket
Re: 360nm UV on eBay. What\'s your opinion?

[ QUOTE ]
big_guy said:
Hehe:) Nice catch PW!

I take it to mean the LED it's self is protected from UV rays from the sun which would destroy them with extended exposure. Most other colors also have that statement included.

It is a puzzeling statement when coupled with a
UV led /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I'm thinking that he meant to say UV stabilizer. That would tend to protect the epoxy from deterioration from the UV content.
 
Top