Gasworld March 2019

Future is bright for xenon Excelitas Technologies lights up medical research and hospitals By Nick Parkinson ©Excelitas Technologies enon high-intensity arc lamps, “The latest xenon Xenon remains the first choice for an electric light that produces demanding, critical applications due to its light by passing electricity lighting technologies ability to out-perform halogen and LEDs.” through ionized xenon gas at deliver longer life for the “The latest xenon lighting technologies Xhigh pressure, have a versatility which deliver longer life for the lamps, and lamps, and higher output has seen its use grow year on year. higher output from the systems. For Xenon’s spectral output and color from the systems” example, new fiber optic illuminators temperature creates bright white light, enable more light to travel through like natural sunlight, which lends itself to that xenon light sources can be found increasingly narrow fibers.” aiding a physician observing tissue in situ, in over 90% of hospitals worldwide. Jim Cermax Xenon lamps produce attempting to determine disease states. Clements, Cermax® Product Manager, high-intensity, bright white light used As xenon behaves well when mixed says xenon medical lighting is being used for endoscopic illumination, surgical with other noble gases, applications for a variety of purposes. headlamps, and in robotic surgery engineers can design systems that take “Excelitas customers use Cermax equipment. The highly versatile Cermax advantage of xenon’s native characteristics, Xenon medical lighting for a variety of Xenon short-arc lamps are also used in while enhancing the near-infrared (NIR) applications including surgical headlamps video projection lighting, solar simulation, spectroscopic output from lamps, creating for critical procedures (for example dental UV curing, industrial UV curing, an even broader spectral range for their thoracic, liver), lighting systems for microscopic illumination, and other high- products and systems. surgical microscopy, and illuminators performance applications. Excelitas Technologies, which delivers for endoscopy (colonoscopy, ENT),” Xenon’s growth in the car headlights high-performance optoelectronics Clements told gasworld. and cinema projector markets may be solutions, introduced short-arc xenon “Xenon is still considered the ‘gold- affected by alternatives, but Clements is lamps in the early 1980s. The Waltham, standard’ for high-performance light confident xenon lamps will continue to Massachusetts-based company claims sources, typically from 150W to 450W. remain in demand. 34 | gasworld US Edition • March 2019 gasworld.com/specialfeatures SPECIAL FEATURE “Demand for Excelitas’ Cermax xenon lamps continues to grow year-over- year as global healthcare improves, and preventive medicine becomes more commonplace,” Clements told gasworld. “Physicians and hospitals appear very reluctant to retire or replace their high- performance xenon illuminators.” “Excelitas’ heritage and technological innovation set our xenon lighting solutions for OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) apart from our competitors. Excelitas has the broadest ©Excelitas Technologies array of fundamental lamp designs, and the widest portfolio of xenon-based by their brightness but by regulations century and the the “Welcome to fabulous products: everything from medical mandating energy-saving bulbs. Las Vegas” sign on the edge of town lighting, to aesthetic laser applications Linde supplies xenon to leading celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. such as body hair and tattoo removal, manufacturers of xenon headlights Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO) to analytical spectroscopy products, to including OSRAM and PHILIPS. made one the earliest neon signs in Las photonics flash lamps for laser pumping, Factors affecting the growth of xenon Vegas for The Boulder Club in 1933. to industrial flash lamps for safety.” headlights include the popularity of When tourism took off in the post-War “Excelitas delivers not only unparalleled LEDs, as well as the power of xenon period, neon signs became more popular quality, but also a ‘first-mover’ tradition headlights, which can be deemed around Las Vegas. The neon trend for innovation: e.g. Cermax metal-body dangerous as they obscure the vision of reached a peak point in the 1960s, before lamps with diamond turned reflectors for other drivers and pedestrians. backlit plastic signs began being adopted enhanced precision, light-weight heat- The xenon headlight market also instead. In recent years, neon casino and sinks for aircraft-mounted applications, hinges upon car sales and any drop, show signs have become less common and discreet, ultra-quiet illumination like the recent one in China for the first in cities like Las Vegas, where the classic systems for use in surgical suites.” time since 1990, will be of concern. US neon signs have disappeared from the “Key OEMs continue to design new auto sales saw a slight rise last year 17.3 Strip in place of more economical LED product platforms utilizing Cermax million, but there have been predictions lighting. xenon for use in emerging applications that car sales will fall to under 17 million Neon has become harder to spot such as robotic, mobile UV-disinfection in 2019. around Las Vegas in recent years, systems for hospitals, so we expect to Krypton is also increasingly being although YESCO’s classic neon frontage see its continued use into the future. For used in car lights to fill halogen sealed- at the Flamingo hotel, from 1976, can industrial applications, there has also been beam headlights, as well as being still be seen. an increase in demand for lighter-weight, employed as a filler gas in halogen But if you go to downtown Las Vegas high output stage/studio lights and an bulbs, energy-saving bulbs and in you will find the splendid Neon Museum uptick in the use of high performance, illuminated billboards. For example, and its collection of neon glow signs aircraft-mounted searchlights.” Excelitas’ xenon and krypton flash from neon’s heyday. It is a a non-profit lamps are confined arc flashlamps which organization dedicated to collecting, LED v xenon headlights – who wins? produce microsecond to millisecond preserving, studying and exhibiting iconic Xenon headlights is also growing market, duration pulses of broadband light Las Vegas signs for educational, historic, even if it is not growing at a rate it once of high radiant intensities, for use as arts and cultural enrichment. was due to the booming demand for medical and industrial laser pumping, It also includes the outdoor exhibition LEDs. It is down to xenon’s qualities of digital and studio photography, warning space known as the Neon Boneyard, being brighter, creating a wider beam beacons and strobes, stroboscopic and where the museum has installed the iconic pattern, and lasting longer than halogen effect lighting. guitar-shaped sign of the Hard Rock Cafe bulbs. Xenon headlights are nothing – closed in 2016 – and plans to light it new – they have been around since Neon: slipping from view in Las Vegas up on March 5. A fundraising campaign 1990 – and can be spotted on the road Finally, and perhaps the most widely to restore the 80-foot tall guitar has due to their bright, ice white/blue tint recognizable gas used in lighting, is neon reportedly raised over $250,000, showing and extreme brightness. Their growing with its fluorescent qualities. Neon signs there is still plenty of love and interest for popularity has been helped not only have been used in the US for almost a neon signs. gw March 2019 • gasworld US Edition | 35.

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