What is a Curing Lamp?
A curing lamp is an optical device that can change a liquid into a solid using high energy ultraviolet (UV) or blue light. When the optical energy is absorbed by the liquid, a polymerization reaction occurs that changes the material into a solid. Curing systems are used across a wide range of applications and industries. In the medical field, curing lamps are used for dental epoxy composite or resin hardening while ultraviolet‐blue radiation can also be used to treat certain types of skin diseases through phototherapy. In electronics and opto-electronics, curing devices are used in adhesive bonding, assembly, and encapsulation. In cosmetics, curing lamps are used in nail polishing and restorative procedures.
Phosphors in Curing Lamps
A traditional curing lamp employed a fluorescent bulb with ultraviolet-emitting phosphors. With the advancement of LED technology and solid-state lighting, LED-based UV or blue lamps have dominated the curing market due to their higher efficiency and compact size. Combining a UV or blue LED with different phosphors enables a new generation of curing devices that can be customized and fine-tuned for specific applications or polymers.
Ultraviolet-emitting phosphors are available in the UVA (320nm-400nm), UVB (290nm-320-nm), and UVC (200nm-290nm) parts of the spectrum. The UVA/UVB spectral range is generally used in polymer/resin photo curing, although many polymers can be cured using visible blue or violet light between 400-500nm.
Some LED phosphors can convert UVC to UVA and UVB radiation for resin curing and UV disinfection applications
Remote Phosphors Enable Multi-function Lamps in a Compact Form Factor
Using LED technology combined with remote phosphors, a system can be designed and built with multiple functions. For example, a compact medical instrument can incorporate a curing light and a dental endoscope with high color rendition white light for imaging using customized phosphors combined with multi-wavelength light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The light from the UV/blue LEDs is capable of polymerizing resin materials while the broadband RGB spectrum enables high quality imaging and inspection.
A dual function LED lamp with phosphors for UV/blue resin curing and high quality medical imaging
