Microdischarge arrays: a new family of UV sources

We report recent progress in the fabrication of micro hollow cathode discharge arrays that can be utilized as a miniature UV generation source having the size of tens - hundreds of microns. Microdischarges exhibit several novel characteristics, for example, high power loading (tens - hundreds of kW/cc) and high operational pressure. And especially, we can easily obtain any wavelength ranges of radiation from the device just by changing discharge gases. Furthermore, since various types of device structures and device materials have been developed, a number of lighting applications are available.