Hamamatsu Photonics announced a new range of air-cooled UV-LEDs

The flagship product is the GH-103A UV-LED lamp, which can provide an irradiance of 24W/cm. This is possible because of a patented air-cooling mechanism, Thermal observation Sylphy air Material (ThoMaS). ThoMaS consists of temperature monitoring, a proprietary airflow structure (Sylphy ai) and a proprietary heat sink. This cooling structure keeps the exteriors of the lamp cool and prevents the formation of hotspots, especially when two or more lamps are combined to increase irradiation width, Hamamatsu Photonics assert. The high irradiance of this lamp is matched by a window size of 103x24 mm to deliver UV dose at 395nm.

Hamamatsu Photonics report that when operating at high intensities, the cooling system of the GH-103A ensures an average lifetime of 20,000 hours, which is 33% greater than the closest competing products. Hamamatsu’s Actual Lifetime Consultation and Extension allows customers to extend the warranty depending on the operating conditions of the application. Finally, for applications with stringent surface curing requirements at high speeds, a N₂ purge module can be attached to the GH-103A. This N₂ module is the result of a patented Hamamatsu Nitrogen Control Engineering (HaNCE) which spreads N₂ uniformly below the irradiation window to effectively displace ambient O₂ while keeping N₂ consumption low. Hamamatsu Photonics believe the GH-103A is a compelling alternative to Hg-arc lamps and water-cooled UV-LED lamps in applications that need high dosage. A few examples of applications include inkjet, narrow web flexo and hybrid printing.

Additionally to the GH-103A UV-LED lamp, they also offer other UV-LED lamps. The GC-77 and its side-emitting version GC-77S are specially designed for pinning in inkjet printing. Their design is adapted for the narrow space between different color ink heads and their output (2.5W/cm²) is to prevent the spread of ink droplets to increase the quality of the print. For applications that require a medium level of UV dosage within a small footprint, the GC-113A is the UV-LED lamp to consider. With an irradiance of 7.5-10W/cm², GC-113A comes with wavelength choices of 365, 385 and 395nm, whereas GC-77(S) offers one additional wavelength choice of 405nm.

Finally, Hamamatsu Photonics offers a high dose surface curing UV-LED lamp – the GA-107. Its emission at 365nm is optimal for surface curing. Its window size (107x108mm) and uniform irradiance of 1.5W/cm² at 10mm from the window surface provides a UV dosage for curing of varnishes and inks. It has a window 4x the size of the GH-103A. All of these UV-LED lamps can be connected to extend the irradiation window width based on the application requirements.