1. Overview

Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFLs) and Ultraviolet (UV) lamps are gas-discharge light sources that operate without heated filaments. CCFLs use cold cathodes to excite mercury vapor, producing ultraviolet light that is converted to visible light by phosphor coatings. UV lamps emit electromagnetic radiation at wavelengths between 100-400 nm, with subtypes like UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C. These technologies enable applications from display backlighting to sterilization, offering advantages in energy efficiency, compact design, and specialized radiation output.

2. Main Types & Functional Classification

Type	Functional Features	Application Examples
CCFL (Standard)	Uniform linear light source, low power consumption	LCD monitor backlighting, industrial sensors
CCFL (High Brightness)	Enhanced luminance (10,000-20,000 cd/m )	Medical imaging displays, high-end scanners
UV-A (315-400 nm)	Long-wave UV for fluorescence excitation	Non-destructive testing, counterfeit detection
UV-C (200-280 nm)	Short-wave germicidal radiation	Water purification, air sterilization systems

3. Structure & Composition

CCFLs consist of a glass tube (3-8 mm diameter) coated with phosphor, filled with argon/krypton gas and mercury vapor. Electrodes made of nickel or molybdenum are sealed at both ends. UV lamps use quartz glass tubes (for UV-C) or soda-lime glass (UV-A) with specialized gas mixtures. UV-C lamps often contain amalgam to stabilize mercury vapor pressure, while UV-A lamps use phosphor coatings to adjust emission spectra.

4. Key Technical Specifications

Parameter	CCFL	UV Lamp	Importance
Luminous Efficiency	30-60 lm/W	N/A	Energy consumption optimization
UV Irradiance	N/A	1-100 mW/cm	Determines sterilization/disinfection efficacy
Lifetime	20,000-60,000 hours	5,000-15,000 hours	System maintenance scheduling
Color Temperature	5,000-6,500 K	N/A	Color accuracy in display applications
Operating Temperature	0 C to 60 C	-20 C to 100 C	Environmental compatibility

5. Application Fields

• CCFL: LCD TVs (pre-LED era), backlighting for avionics displays, photocopiers, and optical sensors
• UV: Hospital sterilization equipment, semiconductor photolithography, water treatment plants, counterfeit banknote detectors

Case Study: CCFL arrays in 19" industrial control panels provide uniform 5000K illumination, while UV-C lamps in HVAC systems achieve 99.9% microbial inactivation at 254 nm wavelength.

6. Leading Manufacturers & Products

Manufacturer	CCFL Product	UV Product
Osram	LUXEON CCFL 4W/8xx	OZUV PL-L 9W/10P
Philips	TL-W Mini 8W	Hg Pen Ray Lamp
Excelitas	CCFL-XX-XXXX series	Xenon Flash Lamps

7. Selection Guidelines

Key considerations include:

• For CCFL: Required brightness uniformity, operating temperature range, and dimming compatibility
• For UV: Target microorganism susceptibility (peak at 265 nm for DNA absorption), quartz transmittance (>90% for UV-C), and ballast control requirements
• Environmental: RoHS compliance (mercury content restrictions), vibration resistance for industrial settings

8. Industry Trends

While CCFLs face decline due to LED adoption (LED backlighting achieves >100,000 hours lifetime), UV lamps show growth in:

• UV-LED arrays replacing mercury lamps in portable disinfection devices
• Deep UV-C (200-280 nm) applications for airborne pathogen control
• Smart integration with IoT-enabled UV dose monitoring systems

Regulatory shifts (EU RoHS restrictions on mercury) are accelerating development of mercury-free UV excimer lamps.