black light

Appearance of a UV light source

Spectrum of a fluorescent black light source. FWHM spectral bandwidth of the 370 nm peak is about 20 nm

A black light or UV light is a lamp emitting electromagnetic radiation that is almost exclusively in the soft near ultraviolet range, and emits very little visible light. In medicine, forensics, and some other scientific fields, such a light source is referred to as a Wood's lamp.

Black light sources may be made from especially designed fluorescent lamps, mercury vapor lamps, light-emitting diodes, or incandescent lamps, with a lamp enclosure designed to reduce emission of visible light and pass desired parts of the ultraviolet spectrum.

Black light sources may be used for decorative and artistic lighting effects, for diagnostic and therapeutic uses in medicine, for eradication of microorganisms, for observation or detection of substances that exhibit the fluorescent effect, curing of plastic resins, and for attraction of insects for eradication. Strong sources of long-wave ultraviolet light are used in tanning beds. Black light lamps are used for detection of counterfeit money.

Powerful ultraviolet sources present a hazard to eyes and skin and apparatus using these sources requires personal protective equipment.

Description

Fluorescent

Black light fluorescent tubes are typically made in the same fashion as normal fluorescent lights except that only one phosphor is used and the normally clear glass envelope of the bulb may be replaced by a deep-bluish-purple glass called Wood's glass, a nickel-oxide–doped glass, which blocks almost all visible light above 400 nanometers. In practice, partly due to cost but mainly because Wood's glass does not make a satisfactory material for lamp manufacture, the lamp will be made from normal glass and a relatively thin coating of a UV filtering material is applied to the exterior. The color of such lamps is often referred to in the trade as "blacklight blue" or "BLB." This is to distinguish these lamps from "bug zapper" blacklight ("BL") lamps that don't have the filter material

The phosphor typically used for a near 368 to 371 nanometer emission peak is either europium-doped strontium fluoroborate (SrB₄O₇F:Eu²⁺) or europium-doped strontium borate (SrB₄O₇:Eu²⁺) while the phosphor used to produce a peak around 350 to 353 nanometers is lead-doped barium silicate (BaSi₂O₅:Pb⁺). "Blacklight Blue" lamps peak at 365 nm.

Manufacturers use different numbering systems for Black Light, UV-A, UV-B and Actinic tubes. Philips uses one system which seems to be falling into obsolescence, while the (German) Osram system seems to be dominating throughout the world outside North America. This table gives the details:

^[1]

Peak Position approximated to the nearest decade.

Width between 50% intensity points on shoulders of peak.

This table lists tubes generating blue, U.V.A and U.V.B, in order of decreasing wavelength of the most intense peak. Approximate phosphor compositions, major manufacturer's type numbers and some uses are given as an overview of types available.

Osram Wood's glass tubes seem to use a fairly narrow band emitting phosphor, Europium activated Strontium Pyroborate, with a peak at about 370 nm, whereas North American and Philips Wood's glass tubes seem to use the wider band emitting, Lead activated Calcium Metasilicate, with a shorter wavelength peak at about 350 nm. These two seem to be the most commonly used, and different manufacturers offer either one or the other and often both.

"Bug zapper" tubes

Some UV fluorescent bulbs specifically designed to attract insects for use in bug zappers use the same near-UV emitting phosphor as normal blacklights, but use plain glass instead of the more expensive Wood's glass, these are listed in the table above. Plain glass blocks less of the visible mercury emission spectrum, making them appear light blue-violet to the naked eye. These lamps are referred to as "blacklight" or "BL" in most North American lighting catalogs. European equivalents are the Philips TL-XXW/09, emitting a peak at 350 nm, and the Osram LXXW/78, emitting a peak at 371 nm, among others.

Incandescent

A black light may also be formed by simply using Wood's glass instead of clear glass as the envelope for a common incandescent bulb. This was the method used to create the very first black light sources. Though it remains a cheaper alternative to the fluorescent method, it is exceptionally inefficient at producing UV light, since due to its black body spectrum, an incandescent light radiates less than 0.1% of its energy as UV light. Incandescent UV bulbs, due to their inefficiency, may also become dangerously hot during use. Often the filament is run at a higher temperature to increase the proportion of U.V.A in the black-body emission. This drastically reduces the life of the lamp from a typical 1000 hours to around 100 hours.

Mercury vapor

More rarely still, high power, 100, 250, 400 and 1000 watt mercury vapor black lamps can be found, these do not use phosphors, but rely on the intensified and slightly broadened 350-375 nm spectral line of Mercury from high pressure discharge at between 5 and 10 atmospheres pressure depending upon the specific type. These lamps use envelope of Wood's glass to block all the visible lines of Mercury and the short wavelength U.V.C resonance lines, which are harmful. Some other spectral lines, falling within the pass band of the Wood's glass, at 300 and 400 nm contribute to the output. These lamps are used mainly for theatrical and concert displays and although, like the filament lamps described above they become very hot during normal use, they are far more effective U.V.A producers per unit of power consumption.

LED

Ultraviolet light can be also generated by some light-emitting diodes, but wavelengths below 380 nm are uncommon and the emission peaks are broad.

Safety

While "black lights" do produce light in the UV range, their spectrum is confined to the longwave UVA region. UVA is considered the safest of the three spectra of UV light. It is the higher energy (shortwave) light in the UVB and UVC range that is responsible for the DNA damage that leads to skin cancer. UVA light is much lower in energy and does not cause sunburn. UVA is capable of causing damage to collagen fibers, so it does have the potential to accelerate skin aging and cause wrinkles. UVA can also destroy vitamin A in the skin.^{[citation needed]}

UVA light can cause DNA damage, but not directly like UVB and UVC. Due to its longer wavelength, it is absorbed less and reaches deeper skin layers (the leather skin), where it produces reactive chemical intermediates, such as hydroxyl and oxygen radicals, which in turn can damage DNA and result in a high risk of melanoma. The weak output of black lights, though, should not cause DNA damage or cellular mutations the way sunlight can, although there are reports stating that the type of UV radiation used for suntan (UVA) can cause DNA damage, photoaging (damage to the skin from chronic exposure to sunlight) and skin cancer[1] as well as toughening of the skin, suppression of the immune system, and cataract formation after overexposure.[2]

Uses

Fluorescent makeup used for artistic effect.

"Midnight bowling" utilizing blacklights and the fluorescence of pins to enhance ambience.

Scorpion under Ultraviolet light .

Fluorescent materials used for paintings and plastic art.

Ultraviolet radiation itself is invisible to the human eye, but illuminating certain materials with UV radiation prompts the visible effects of fluorescence and phosphorescence. Black-light testing is commonly used to authenticate antiques and banknotes. It is extensively used in non-destructive testing; fluorescing fluids are applied to metal structures and illuminated with a black light, whereby cracks and other artifacts can easily be detected. It can also be used to detect pet excreta for removal, such as urine, vomitus and other substances that are not always visible to the naked eye.

It is also used to illuminate pictures painted with fluorescent colors (preferably on black velvet to intensify the illusion of self-illumination). The fluorescence it prompts from certain textile fibers, especially those bearing optical brightener residue, is also used for its recreational effect (as seen for instance in the opening credits of the James Bond film A View to a Kill).

In medicine, the Wood's lamp is used to check for the characteristic fluorescence of certain dermatophytic fungi such as Microsporan species which emits a yellow glow, or corynebacterium which have a red to orange color under the Wood's lamp. It is also used to detect the presence and extent of depigmenting disorders such as vitiligo. It can also be used to diagnose ringworm, fungal infections, corneal scratches, foreign bodies in the eye, blocked tear ducts, acne, erythrasma, tinea versicolor, microsporum canis, scabies, alopecia, porphyria, bacterial infections, and many other skin conditions[3][4].

Similarly, fluorescent materials are very widely used in numerous molecular biology applications, often as "tags" which bind to substances of interest (such as DNA) and allow their visualization.

In security, a pen with a fluorescent ink, generally a soft tip, is used to "invisibly" mark items. If the items are stolen then a black light can be used to search for the security markings. At some theme parks, a fluorescent mark is rubber stamped onto the wrist of a guest who needs to leave – for example for dinner – and intends to return later in the business day; in this way he or she would not need to pay for a second admission.

Black lights are also used to differentiate real banknotes with counterfeit banknotes as, in many countries, real banknotes have fluorescent symbols on them that only show under a black light. Also, the paper used for printing money does not contain any of the brightening agents which make commercially available papers fluoresce under black light. Both features make counterfeit notes both easier to detect and more difficult to successfully produce. The same is true checking for fraudulent identification cards.

One of the innovations for night and all-weather flying used by the US, UK and Germany during 1939-1945 was the use of UV interior lighting to illuminate the instrument panel, giving a variable-intensity alternative to the radium-painted instrument faces and pointers, without visible illumination that would give away an aircraft's position. This went so far as to include the printing of charts that were marked in UV-fluorescent inks, and the provision of UV-visible pencils and slide rules such as the E6B. However, the common failure of the light's power inverter on take-offs in bombers, and the night-blindness and crashes caused when the blacklight filter fell off on trainer aircraft, led to the system being mostly abandoned.^{[citation needed]}

Black light puppetry is also performed in a black light theater.

See also

• Wood's lamp
• List of light sources

References

1. ^ Various Philips, Osram and Sylvania Lighting Catalogues

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Black light

• U.V.C to U.V.A conversion Phosphors for Black Light sources
• Black Light Theatre World Web
• Black Light Photography with fluorescent materials
• About.com - "What Materials Glow Under a Black or Ultraviolet Light?"
• - "Medical Uses for a Wood's Lamp"
• Black Light Theatre Theodor Hoidekr
• Examples of Black Light Painting

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