Germicidal lamp

This short-wave ultraviolet light disrupts DNA base pairing, causing formation of pyrimidine dimers, and leads to the inactivation of bacteria, viruses, and protozoans.

Germicidal lamps still produce a small amount of visible light due to other mercury radiation bands.

Excimer lamps emit narrow-band UVC and vacuum-ultraviolet radiation at a variety of wavelengths depending on the medium.

The reduced size of LEDs opens up options for small reactor systems allowing point-of-use applications and integration into medical devices.

[2] Low power consumption of semiconductors introduce UV disinfection systems that utilized small solar cells in remote or Third World applications.

If the quartz envelope transmits shorter wavelengths, such as the 185 nm mercury emission line, they can also be used wherever ozone is desired, for example, in the sanitizing systems of hot tubs and aquariums.

The light produced by germicidal lamps is also used to erase EPROMs; the ultraviolet photons are sufficiently energetic to allow the electrons trapped on the transistors' floating gates to tunnel through the gate insulation, eventually removing the stored charge that represents binary ones and zeroes.

In addition to causing sunburn and (over time) skin cancer, this light can produce extremely painful inflammation of the cornea of the eye, which may lead to temporary or permanent vision impairment.