Far-ultraviolet plane-emission handheld device based on hexagonal boron nitride

• Published in: Nature photonics Vol. 3; no. 10; pp. 591 - 594
• Main Authors: Watanabe, Kenji, Taniguchi, Takashi, Niiyama, Takahiro, Miya, Kenta, Taniguchi, Masateru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.10.2009; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Applied and Technical Physics; Biotechnology; Boron; Boron nitride; Devices; Emissions; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); letter; Optical materials; Optical sources and standards; Optics; Photochemicals; Photonics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Physics; Sterilization; Visible and ultraviolet sources; Solid state; Output power; Fluorescent material; Ultraviolet sources; Far ultraviolet radiation; Boron nitride; Optical materials; Excitation
• ISSN: 1749-4885; 1749-4893
• DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2009.167

Many researchers have been trying to produce highly efficient solid-state devices with longer operating lives for the far-ultraviolet wavelength region as an alternative to conventional far-ultraviolet lamps. However, owing to the low efficiency of far-ultraviolet operation, research continues into the development of far-ultraviolet devices with sufficiently high performance 1 , 2 . Here, the potential of hexagonal boron nitride as a far-ultraviolet fluorescent material is studied. Specifically, taking advantage of the highly luminous properties of hexagonal boron nitride 3 , a far-ultraviolet plane-emission compact device equipped with a field-emission array 4 as an excitation source is fabricated, and its stable operation with an output power of 0.2 mW at 225 nm demonstrated. Because of its low current consumption in operation, the device can be driven by dry batteries. This convenient far-ultraviolet device is likely to prove extremely useful in photochemical and biotechnological applications such as photocatalysis, sterilization and modification of chemical substances. A handheld and battery-operated far-ultraviolet plane-emission device is demonstrated. The device has low current consumption and stable operation at an output power of 0.2 mW at 225 nm, and may be useful in photochemical and biotechnological applications such as photo catalysis, sterilization and the modification of chemical substances.