Solid State Ultraviolet Fluorescence Excitation Source

We will develop of a prototype solid-state ultraviolet light source, to be used as a fluorescenceexcitation source in a variety of biomedical instruments. This device will be the first practical solid-stateultraviolet light source, and is expected to have the advantages typical of a solid-state device, and tobe superior to conventional gas-discharge ultraviolet lamps. The device will be based upon thetechnology of double-insulated thin-film electroluminescence, similar to that used in the commercialmanufacture of flat-panel computer displays, but employing novel materials producing ultraviolet ratherthan visible light emission. The device is intended to replace conventional low-pressure gas-dischargelamps (particularly mercury-vapor lamps) in existing applications such as electrophoresis geltransilluminators and clinical fluorescence assay instruments, and to enable new applications such asbattery-powered fieldportable fluorescence microscopes for tropical medicine as a result of its uniqueproperties. The device will be developed in collaboration with a major government laboratory workingin the field of thin-film electroluminescence, and with a major commercial manufacturer of biomedicalresearch instrumentation.