Ultraviolet lamps are widely used for the curing of inks, paints and coatings and are also essential for germicidal applications such as the purification of water, air and food. The most common technologies in use are high-pressure mercury-arc lamps, medium-pressure mercury-arc lamps, and even microwave-powered mercury lamps. Each technology has particular limitations, unlike existing microwave powered lamps Continuum UV electrodeless lamps do not need to be operated inside a cage, operate at higher power densities and are capable of producing UV-A, UV-B and UV-C without the use of mercury. They therefore offer a unique mix of benefits:

• Incredibly flexible geometry allowing for fully immersed operation - ideal for water purification
• Much longer operating lives
• Highly scalable in terms of total power
• Suitable for 24/7 operation
• Absence of electrodes eliminates wall blackening and sputtering issues
• Absence of expensive, and potentially troublesome, electrode-seals
• Flexibility of dose chemistry enables design for exact spectral output (mercury-free lamp doses are possible)
• Simple manufacture (assembly of components that can be multi-sourced)
• Extremely rugged
• Rapid run-up time and short restart-times