Mercury Ultraviolet

Updated
16-XII-2022
In parallel with the invention of the first practical mercury vapour lamp in 1901, it was recognised that these sources provided a powerful emission of ultraviolet radiation in addition to the visible wavelengths. Since the earliest beginnings of the mercury lamp industry, developments have progressed in two parallel domains optimised at improving their properties as light sources, and also as ultraviolet radiation sources. This page is concerned with the latter category.

Whereas the previous sections covering mercury lamp developments have classified the technological improvements in terms of the design and construction of mercury lamps, for the ultraviolet products it is considered more useful to group the different kinds of lamps according to their intended applications as detailed below.

Ultraviolet Suntanning

GE

400W

S-1 Ultraviolet Sunlamp, Thermionic discharge
~1950

GE

85W

S-2 Ultraviolet Sunlamp, Thermionic discharge
1939

Philips

110W

Ultrasol 5023 Self-Ballasted Sunlamp
1935

GE

100W

S-4 Sunlamp with Graded Glass Seals
1940

Osram

300W

Ultra-Vitalux Sunlamp Blended Round
1941

Osram

300W

Ultra-Vitalux Sunlamp Blended Reflector
1957

GE

275W

RS Sunlamp Blended Reflector
1947

Sylvania

275W

RS Sunlamp Blended Reflector
1966

Philips

500W

Biosol MLU Sunlamp Blended Reflector
1953

Philips

300W

Ultraphil MLU Sunlamp Blended Reflector
1968
       

Ultraviolet Germcidal & Ozone

GE

4W

G4S11 Ozone Producing Thermionic discharge
1959

Osram

10W

HNS 10W/U OFR U-Tube Germicidal Ozone Free
1973

Philips

6W

TUV Germicidal lamp with internal resistance
1992

Ultraviolet Actinic

Philips

125W

HPR Actinic Printing in Reflector Bulb
1984

GE-Thorn

5kW

MB high wattage photo-printing lamp
1991
   

Ultraviolet Blacklight

Thorn

4W

M2 miniature ultraviolet source
1975

Osram

13W

HgN miniature UV-A source
1950

GE

4W

F5000 DC Discharge Fluorescent Blacklight
1950 c.

SPO Svet

4W

LUF-4 DC Discharge Fluorescent Blacklight
1989

SELA Abadie

4W

Abadie 6002 DC Fluorescent Blacklight
1992
   

Ultraviolet Blacklight-Blue

Philips

20W

Woods Glass Blacklight Blue
1941

Osram

9W

HNV miniature Woods' glass blacklight
1943

Philips

6W

TW Blacklight lamp with internal resistance
1983

GE

100W

H100-BL4 Purple-X Blacklight Woods Glass
1971

Osram

80W

HQV Blacklight Woods Glass
1964

Thorn

125W

MBW Blacklight Woods Glass
1974

Philips

125W

HPW Blacklight Woods Glass
1985

Philips

125W

HPW-TS Blacklight with UV-A Phosphor
1991

Iwasaki

400W

H400BL Blacklight Woods Glass
1994

SELZ

125W

DRUFZ 125-1 Blacklight Woods Glass Reflector
1983