JPH09199033A - Manufacture of dielectric barrier discharge lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp which can high accurately control an amount of halide gas by eliminating necessity for a particular equipment for charging halide gas, and easily obtaining a condition charging inside a discharge vessel with required halide gas. SOLUTION: A solid halide compound H is arranged in a discharge vessel 10, air in the inside is discharged, an almost vacuum condition is created, the halide compound H is decomposed by decomposition treating from the outside, so as to release halide gas in the discharge vessel 10, thereafter, from its outside, rare gas is sealed and the discharge vessel 10 is sealed. Or the solid halide compound H is arranged in the discharge vessel 10, air in the interior is discharged, almost a vacuum condition is created, rare gas is sealed from outside the discharge vessel 10 and it is sealed. Thereafter, the halide compound H is decomposed by decomposition treating from the outside, so as to release halide gas in the discharge vessel 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp that emits excimer light by utilizing dielectric barrier discharge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 3, outer surfaces 83, 8 of a pair of wall members 81, 82 made of a dielectric material facing each other.
4, a pair of electrodes 85 and 86 are arranged, and these electrodes 8
When an AC voltage is applied between 5 and 86, the wall materials 81 and 82
It is known that a large number of needle-shaped discharge plasmas are generated during this period. Dielectric barrier discharge (also known as "Ozonizer discharge" or "Silent discharge". Such revised discharge "Handbook" published by The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan, Resale June 1991 7
Printing issuance, page 263). When this dielectric barrier discharge is generated in an appropriate discharge gas, excimer light peculiar to the composition of the discharge gas is emitted. The development of lamps that utilize discharge, that is, dielectric barrier discharge lamps, is in progress.

In such a dielectric barrier discharge lamp, since electrodes can be provided outside the discharge vessel,
A halogen gas that is corrosive to the metal forming the electrodes can be used as the discharge gas.

For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-144560, a rare gas such as krypton-fluorine, krypton-chlorine, xenon-fluorine, or xenon-chlorine is contained in a discharge vessel at least a part of which is made of a dielectric material. A dielectric barrier discharge lamp filled with a discharge gas composed of a mixed gas of halogen gas is described.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an outline of an apparatus used for filling a discharge gas with a discharge gas in the production of a dielectric barrier discharge lamp filled with a rare gas and a halogen gas as a discharge gas. It is a figure. In this figure, 90 is a discharge container of a dielectric barrier discharge lamp, 91 is an oil diffusion pump, 92 is a rotary pump, 93 is a gas processor, 94 is a rare gas tank, 95 is a halogen gas reservoir, 96 is a gas mixing chamber, and 97. Is a gas flow path switch, 98
Is a pipe, and 99 is a valve.

Conventionally, a dielectric barrier discharge lamp is manufactured by filling a discharge gas in the following manner with such a device. A desired amount of rare gas and halogen gas are supplied from the rare gas tank 94 and the halogen gas reservoir 95 into the gas mixing chamber 96, and the gas in the discharge container 90 is exhausted by the oil diffusion pump 91 and the rotary pump 92. Next, the gas flow path switch 97 is changed over to change the flow path so that the rare gas and the halogen gas mixed in the gas mixing chamber 96 are supplied from the gas mixing chamber 96 into the discharge vessel 90 to seal the discharge vessel 90. Stop. Then, the halogen gas remaining in the gas mixing chamber 96, the pipe 98 through which the halogen gas flows, and the like is recovered by the gas processor 93, and the halogen gas is processed.

However, the above method has the following problems. (1) Since the filled halogen gas is corrosive to metals, the halogen gas reservoir 95,
The gas mixing chamber 96, the pipe 98 through which the halogen gas flows, and the like need to be made of, for example, glass, and, as described above, the exhaust gas treatment device for treating the halogen gas needs to be provided. Special equipment for filling the gas is required, and the entire apparatus becomes large.

(2) When a mixed gas of a rare gas and a halogen gas is used as the discharge gas, the luminous efficiency of excimer light due to the excimer of the rare gas element and the halogen element depends on the proportion of the halogen gas in the discharge gas. Therefore, it is important to set the proportion of halogen gas so that a high luminous efficiency can be obtained. Therefore, it is necessary to control the amount of halogen gas filled in the discharge vessel 90 with high accuracy. However, the halogen gas has a high adsorptivity, and when the halogen gas is filled in the discharge vessel 90, the halogen gas is adsorbed on the inner walls of the gas mixing chamber 96, the pipe 98 through which the halogen gas flows, and the like. Therefore, it is difficult to control the amount of halogen gas filled in the discharge vessel 90 with high accuracy.

(3) Since halogen gas, especially bromine gas, is harmful to the human body, it is extremely dangerous when the halogen gas leaks out.

[0010]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its object is to provide:
In the method of manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp in which the discharge vessel is filled with a halogen gas as a discharge gas, no special equipment for filling the halogen gas is required, and the required halogen gas is filled in the discharge vessel. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp, which can easily obtain the state and can control the amount of halogen gas existing in the discharge container with high accuracy.

[0011]

In the method of manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp according to the present invention, a discharge vessel is formed of a wall material made of a dielectric material, and the discharge vessel is filled with a rare gas and a halogen gas. In the method for manufacturing a body barrier discharge lamp, a solid halogen compound is placed in the discharge vessel, and the air inside the discharge vessel is exhausted to bring the interior of the discharge vessel to a substantially vacuum state, thereby eliminating the halogen compound. By decomposing by a decomposition process from the outside, a halogen gas is released into the discharge vessel, and then a predetermined amount of rare gas is sealed from the outside of the discharge vessel to seal the discharge vessel. To do.

Further, in the method for manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp according to the present invention, the discharge container is formed of a wall material made of a dielectric material, and the discharge container is filled with a rare gas and a halogen gas. In the manufacturing method of, placing a solid halogen compound in the discharge vessel,
By discharging the air inside the discharge vessel, the inside of the discharge vessel is brought into a substantially vacuum state, a predetermined amount of rare gas is sealed from the outside of the discharge vessel, and the discharge vessel is hermetically sealed. The halogen gas is released into the discharge vessel by decomposing the halogen compound by an external decomposition treatment.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A method for manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp of the present invention will be described in detail below. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the outline of the configuration of an example of a dielectric barrier discharge lamp manufactured by the present invention. In this dielectric barrier discharge lamp, a cylindrical one wall member 11 made of a dielectric material and an inner diameter of the one wall member 11 arranged along the cylinder axis in the one wall member 11 are used. There is provided a hermetically sealed discharge vessel 10 having another cylindrical wall member 12 made of a dielectric material having a small outer diameter. In this discharge vessel 10, both end portions of one wall material 11 and the other wall material 12 are joined by sealing wall portions 13 and 14, and one wall material 11 and the other wall material 12 are connected to each other. A cylindrical discharge space S is formed.

As the dielectric material forming the one wall member 11 and the other wall member 12, for example, quartz glass can be used, and in particular, synthetic quartz having high transparency to vacuum ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 160 to 200 nm. It is preferable to use glass. This synthetic quartz glass is VAD (Vapo
r-phased Axial Deposition
n) is a quartz glass manufactured by firing silica powder by a direct method or the like, and has a silica purity of 9
It is more than 9.99% by weight.

One wall member 11 of the discharge vessel 10 is provided with one mesh-like electrode 21 made of a conductive material such as a wire mesh in close contact with the outer peripheral surface 15 thereof, and the other wall member 11 of the discharge vessel 10 is provided. The wall member 12 is provided with a film-shaped electrode 22 made of aluminum so as to cover the outer surface 16, and one electrode 21 and the other electrode 22 are connected to a high frequency power source 20.

In the present invention, a solid halogen compound is placed in the discharge vessel, and the halogen compound is decomposed by a decomposition treatment applied from the outside, thereby releasing the halogen gas into the discharge space. The dielectric barrier discharge lamp is manufactured with the required halogen gas being present in the discharge vessel. Hereinafter, specific embodiments will be described.

<First Method> This method is a method in which the inside of the discharge vessel is evacuated and the solid halogen gas is decomposed in the discharge vessel. First, as shown in FIG. 2, from the exhaust pipe 30 connected to one of the sealing wall portions 13 of the discharge vessel 10 so as to communicate with the inside of the discharge vessel 10, a predetermined amount of solids is introduced into the discharge vessel 10. Halogen compound H
Place. Next, the inside of the discharge vessel 10 is brought into a vacuum state by discharging the air inside the discharge vessel 10 from the exhaust pipe 30 by an appropriate vacuum pump. Then, for example, by closing the valve attached to the exhaust pipe 30, the inside of the discharge vessel 10 is sealed, and in this state,
By decomposing the halogen compound H, the halogen gas is released into the discharge space S of the discharge vessel 10. After that, the discharge tube 10 is filled with a rare gas through the exhaust pipe 30,
The base end of the exhaust pipe 30 is sealed and the exhaust pipe 30 is cut.

In the above, the halogen compound H may be a solid halide which decomposes by an external decomposition treatment to release a halogen gas, but a metal halogen compound is preferably used.
In particular, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium (above, lanthanoid group elements), yttrium, tin, lead,
It is preferable to use a halide of one or more metals selected from silver and barium.

The decomposition treatment of the halogen compound H can be carried out by heat treatment, irradiation treatment with light or radiation, discharge treatment, or a combination thereof. The heat treatment can be performed using a heater, a burner, an electric furnace, or the like, and can also be performed by high frequency. The irradiation treatment with light or radiation can be performed using a low pressure mercury lamp, a deuterium lamp, a laser, or the like. As conditions for the irradiation treatment, for example, when ultraviolet rays are used, the irradiation energy amount is 1 to 100 mW / cm ² . The discharge treatment can be performed by Tesla discharge by a Tesla coil or high frequency discharge.

By the decomposition treatment of the halide H, a non-halogen element is generated together with the halogen gas. The non-halogen element reacts with the discharge vessel or oxygen, water, etc. existing in the discharge vessel. Since it is stabilized by reacting with the impurities, the halogen gas is not regenerated by reacting with the generated halogen gas.

In this way, the discharge vessel 10 is filled with the discharge gas, and by appropriate means, one electrode 21 and the other electrode 21 are formed on the outer surfaces of the one wall member 11 and the other wall member 12, respectively. By providing the electrode 22 of
A dielectric barrier discharge lamp is manufactured.

According to the above method, since the solid halogen compound H is disposed in the discharge vessel 10 and decomposed, it is not necessary to handle the halogen gas itself which is highly toxic and inconvenient to handle. Therefore, it is possible to easily obtain the state in which the discharge vessel 10 is filled with the halogen gas, without using special equipment for filling the halogen gas.

Further, since the halogen gas is generated in the discharge vessel 10, the amount of loss due to being adsorbed on the inner wall surface of the supply device is extremely small, and the halogen gas existing in the discharge vessel 10 is also present. Since the amount of gas can be adjusted by changing the amount of halogen compound H or the amount of decomposition of halogen compound H arranged in the discharge vessel 10, the amount of halogen gas present in the discharge vessel 10 can be adjusted. It can be controlled with high accuracy.

Further, when the above-mentioned specific metal halogen compound is used as the halogen compound H, a residue produced by liberating halogen from the halogen compound H, for example, a simple metal or a metal oxide, has a vapor pressure of Since it is low, light emission due to the residue can be suppressed.

In the production method of the present invention, in the decomposition treatment of the halogen compound H, all of the halogen compound H arranged in the discharge vessel 10 may be decomposed, but a part of the halogen compound H is decomposed. Discharge space S
It is preferable that the halogen gas is released into the interior of the discharge vessel 10 and the remaining halogen compound H is left in the discharge vessel 10 as a light emitting element temporal supply material.

In a dielectric barrier discharge lamp filled with a rare gas and a halogen gas as a discharge gas, the amount of the halogen gas in the discharge vessel 10 is reduced and released during the operation of the dielectric barrier discharge lamp. There is a problem that the intensity of the excimer light is reduced early. Thus, as described above, while part of the halogen compound H is decomposed,
By leaving the residual halogen compound H in the discharge vessel 10 as a light emitting element temporal supply substance, the residual halogen compound H is generated by the excimer light emitted during the operation of the dielectric barrier discharge lamp. Since the halogen gas is decomposed and gradually supplied to the discharge space S, the decrease in the amount of the halogen gas in the discharge space S is effectively compensated, and as a result, a dielectric barrier discharge lamp having a long service life is obtained. You can

<Second Method> This method is a method of decomposing a halogen gas in the discharge vessel in a hermetically sealed state in which the rare gas is filled. The first mentioned above
The solid halogen compound H is placed in the discharge vessel 10 in the same manner as in the above method. Next, after the air in the discharge vessel 10 is exhausted from the exhaust pipe 30 by an appropriate vacuum pump, the discharge vessel 10 is filled with a rare gas through the exhaust pipe 30,
The base end of the exhaust pipe 30 is sealed and the exhaust pipe 30 is cut. Then, the halogen gas is released into the discharge space S of the discharge vessel 10 by decomposing the halogen compound H.

In the second method as described above, the decomposition treatment of the halogen compound H can be performed by the same means as in the first method, but the discharge vessel 10 is filled with a rare gas. Therefore, after arranging the one electrode 21 and the other electrode 22, a voltage is applied between them to generate a dielectric barrier discharge in the discharge space S,
That is, by operating the lamp, the discharge vessel 10
Since ultraviolet rays, which are excimer light due to the rare gas element, are emitted in the discharge space S, the halogen compound H can be decomposed by using the ultraviolet rays.

Although the embodiment of the method for manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the above method and various modifications can be made. For example, a storage chamber for the halogen compound H that communicates with the discharge space S may be formed in the discharge vessel 10, and the halogen compound H may be placed in the storage chamber. According to such a method, it is possible to prevent the halogen compound H or the residue generated by being liberated from the halogen compound H from being evaporated by sputtering. Further, the halogen compound H may be arranged in the exhaust pipe 30, and in this case, the rest of the exhaust pipe 30 can be used as a storage chamber for the halogen compound H.

The shape of the discharge vessel to be used may be a box shape, a flat plate shape, or any other shape as long as it has one wall material and the other wall material that are made of a dielectric and face each other. Good. Further, by forming a metal film made of aluminum on the outer surface of one wall material as the other electrode and providing a light extraction window member made of a translucent material in place of the sealing wall portion, from the end surface of the discharge container. It is possible to obtain a dielectric barrier discharge lamp configured to extract light.

[0031]

EXAMPLES Examples of the method for manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp of the present invention will be described below. Example 1 According to the configuration shown in FIG. 1 and the following conditions,
A dielectric barrier discharge lamp was manufactured by filling the discharge gas as follows. Discharge container (10): One wall material (11); synthetic quartz glass, total length about 150
mm, outer diameter 26.5 mm, inner diameter 23.5 mm (wall thickness 1.
5 mm), the other wall material (12); synthetic quartz glass, total length about 150
mm, outer diameter 14 mm, inner diameter 12 mm (wall thickness 1 mm) One electrode (21): stainless steel wire mesh, other electrode (22): aluminum, discharge gas: xenon gas (gas partial pressure 200 Torr)
Gas mixture of bromine gas (about 0.6 mg)

One of the sealing walls (1) of the discharge vessel (10)
3) to the exhaust pipe (3) so as to communicate with the inside of the discharge vessel (10).
0) is connected, and the discharge vessel (1
0), 10 mg of dysprosium bromide (H) was placed (see FIG. 2), and the air in the discharge vessel (10) was exhausted from the exhaust pipe (30) by a vacuum pump, whereby the discharge vessel (10) was discharged. The inside was evacuated. The inside of the discharge vessel (10) is a closed system, and in this state, the discharge vessel (1
From outside of 0), dysprosium bromide (H) is heated for 80 seconds using a burner to decompose a part of the dysprosium bromide (H), and about 0.6 mg of bromine gas is produced. It was then discharged into the discharge space S of the discharge vessel (10). After that, the discharge vessel (10) is filled with xenon gas from the exhaust pipe (30), sealed at the base end of the exhaust pipe (30), and the exhaust pipe 30 is cut to form a dielectric barrier discharge lamp. Manufactured.

This dielectric barrier discharge lamp was applied with a high frequency power source (20) to apply an applied voltage of 3.5 kV and a frequency of about 2.
When it was turned on with an AC wave of 0 kHz, the power consumption was about 2
0 W, the wavelength of about 282 nm (ultraviolet rays in the wavelength range of 270 to 320 nm, which has a maximum peak in the wavelength of excimer light emitted from the excimer due to xenon and bromine, is highly efficiently emitted, and a desired amount of bromine gas is emitted. It was confirmed that it was filled.

Example 2 A dielectric barrier discharge lamp was manufactured under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that the discharge gas was filled as follows.

One of the sealing walls (1) of the discharge vessel (10)
3) to the exhaust pipe (3) so as to communicate with the inside of the discharge vessel (10).
0) is connected, and the discharge vessel (1
0) was placed with 10 mg of dysprosium bromide (H) (see FIG. 2), and the air in the discharge vessel (10) was discharged from the exhaust pipe (30) by a vacuum pump. After that, the discharge vessel (10) was filled with a rare gas from the exhaust pipe (30), and then the exhaust pipe 30 was cut by sealing at the base end of the exhaust pipe (30). And by the high frequency power source (20),
An AC wave with an applied voltage of 3.5 kV and a frequency of about 20 kHz is applied to generate a dielectric barrier discharge in the discharge space (S) by applying a voltage between one electrode (21) and the other electrode (22). By causing dysprosium bromide (H)
Was decomposed to generate about 0.6 mg of bromine gas, which was then discharged into the discharge space S of the discharge vessel (10) to manufacture a dielectric barrier discharge lamp.

When this dielectric barrier discharge lamp was lit under the same conditions as in Example 1, the power consumption was about 20.
W, a wavelength of about 282 nm (ultraviolet rays in the wavelength range of 270 to 320 nm, which has a maximum peak in the wavelength of excimer light emitted from the excimer due to xenon and bromine, is highly efficiently emitted, and a desired amount of bromine gas is emitted. It was confirmed that it was filled.

[0037]

According to the method of manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp of the present invention, since a solid halogen compound is placed in the discharge vessel and decomposed, it is highly toxic and inconvenient to handle. It is not necessary to handle the gas itself, and therefore, the state in which the discharge vessel is filled with the halogen gas can be easily obtained without using special equipment for filling the halogen gas.

Further, since the halogen gas is generated in the discharge vessel, the amount of loss due to being adsorbed on the inner wall surface of the supply device is extremely small, and the halogen gas which is present in the discharge vessel is very small. Since the amount can be adjusted by changing the amount of the halogen compound placed in the discharge vessel or the decomposition amount of the halogen compound, it is necessary to control the amount of the halogen gas present in the discharge vessel with high accuracy. You can

Further, when a specific metal halogen compound is used as the halogen compound, a residue generated by liberating halogen from the halogen compound, such as a simple metal or a metal oxide, has a low vapor pressure. Therefore, light emission due to the residue can be suppressed.

Further, according to the method of decomposing a part of the halogen compound in the decomposition treatment of the halogen compound and leaving the remaining halogen compound as the luminescent element temporal supply material in the discharge vessel, the dielectric barrier During operation of the discharge lamp, the emitted excimer light decomposes the residual halogen compound and gradually supplies the halogen gas to the discharge space, so it is effective to reduce the amount of halogen gas in the discharge space. Is compensated by
As a result, a dielectric barrier discharge lamp having a long service life can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the outline of the configuration of an example of a dielectric barrier discharge lamp manufactured by the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which an exhaust pipe is attached to a discharge container of a dielectric barrier discharge lamp.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a principle for generating a dielectric barrier discharge.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an outline of an apparatus conventionally used for filling a discharge gas with a discharge gas.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Discharge container 11 One wall material 12 The other wall material 13,14 Sealing wall part 15 The outer surface of one wall material 16 The outer surface of the other wall material 17 The inner surface of the other wall material 20 High frequency power supply 21 One electrode 22 The other Electrode 30 Exhaust pipe S Discharge space H Halogen compound 81,82 Wall material 83,84 Wall material outer surface 85,86 Electrode 90 Discharge vessel 91 Oil diffusion pump 92 Rotary pump 93 Gas processor 94 Rare gas tank 95 Halogen gas reservoir 96 gas Mixing chamber 97 Gas flow path switch 98 Piping 99 Valve

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp in which a discharge vessel is formed of a wall material made of a dielectric material, and the discharge vessel is filled with a rare gas and a halogen gas, wherein a solid halogen is provided in the discharge vessel. By arranging a compound and discharging the air inside the discharge vessel, the inside of the discharge vessel is brought into a substantially vacuum state, and the halogen compound is decomposed by a decomposition treatment from the outside, so that the halogen is generated in the discharge vessel. A method of manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp, characterized in that a gas is released, and then a predetermined amount of a rare gas is sealed from the outside of the discharge vessel to seal the discharge vessel. 2. A method of manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp in which a discharge vessel is formed by a wall material made of a dielectric material, and the discharge vessel is filled with a rare gas and a halogen gas, wherein a solid halogen is provided in the discharge vessel. By placing a compound and discharging the air inside the discharge vessel, the inside of the discharge vessel is brought into a substantially vacuum state, a predetermined amount of rare gas is sealed from the outside of the discharge vessel, and the discharge vessel is sealed. Then, the halogen gas is released into the discharge vessel by decomposing the halogen compound by an external decomposing process, and then the method for manufacturing a dielectric barrier discharge lamp.