Everything You Need to Know About UV Flashlights
Posted by freeamfva on August 23rd, 2021
Everything You Need to Know About UV Flashlights
UV flashlights are great tools for seeing and observing things that are normally invisible. But with so many choices and technical terms, it can be a bit confusing and challenging to know if you are making the right purchase. Read our guide to be assured that you\'re getting the best product!Get more news about High Power Uv Pen Light,you can vist our website!
A UV flashlight emits ultraviolet radiation - a type of light energy - that is not visible to the human eye. When ultraviolet light hits certain objects, they can fluoresce - a phenomenon similar to a bright glow. Many objects and substances such as paints, dyes, minerals, animals and body fluids exhibit fluorescence, which means that the presence of these things can be detected only when a UV light source shines on them.
A UV flashlight takes the same shape and format as a standard white light flashlight, but instead of emitting white light, emits ultraviolet light. Virtually all UV flashlights use LED technology.UV lighting has a wide variety of applications, but UV flashlights can be most useful in situations where portability and ease of use is important. UV flashlights are generally not strong enough to induce any chemical or physical reactions (e.g. curing) but provide enough UV light to observe fluorescence effects.
Because UV flashlights vary in their type and quality, it can be difficult to know if, and which UV flashlights will work for your particular use case without looking at the specifications. See below for things to look out for:
Get the correct wavelength. UV light is actually a general term for a wide range of UV wavelengths across the UV spectrum. Just like visible light is measured along a visible spectrum, UV light is also described along a spectrum using its wavelength, measured in nanometers (nm). When looking for any UV light, it is extremely important to know what wavelength (in nanometers, or nm) the light is emitting at.
Why is the wavelength so important? Well, in short, to be useful, a UV light needs to induce fluorescence. Not all UV wavelengths are capable of producing sufficient fluorescence effects, so you could be completely missing the mark, by purchasing the wrong wavelength.
Although optimal wavelengths can vary across materials and objects, most fluorescence is strongest in the wavelengths around 360 nm. Therefore, it is important that you purchase a UV flashlight with a wavelength at or near 365 nm - otherwise, the UV energy produced by the flashlight may be completely useless and producing the fluorescent glow you are looking for.
Because of the trends in LED manufacturing, higher wavelength LEDs are easier and more cost effective to manufacture. As a result, 415 nm (visible, violet light) LEDs and 405 nm (borderline visible violet light) are often used as \"ultraviolet\" LEDs. If a seller or manufacturer does not list the wavelength used - be careful - as they could very well be using a violet or purple LED that is not a true UV light source.
A common wavelength option is 395 nm. Strictly speaking, these are considered to be ultraviolet LEDs when we use the definition of < 400 nm to define UV. But because these LEDs are so close to the 400 nm cut-off, they still emit much of their energy as violet light. As a result, many objects will be illuminated in a dull violet color, without providing enough lower-wavelength UV light to induce fluorescence.Does it provide enough power? Even the correct wavelength of UV light can be useless if there simply isn\'t enough of it. In other words, you need to make sure you have both quality (good wavelength) and quantity.
But how do you know how much UV light is being emitted? Unfortunately, this is a tricky specification that most products do not list. Unlike white flashlights that use the lumens metric to describe brightness, because UV is invisible, this measure does not apply. Although there are ways to measure UV light, this may not be too practical when shopping for UV flashlights, as most manufacturers will not provide much information.
Generally, two aspects of a UV flashlight\'s design will dictate how much UV light it can pump out. The first is the power consumption, usually rated in watts. Most smaller flashlights will run at 1W or so, while larger flashlights may run at 3W or more. Don\'t be fooled by the LED quantity - just because there are more LEDs does not necessarily mean that there is more power. What matters is the total power - 1 LED running at 3 watts is more power than 3 LEDs running at 0.5 watts each.
The second aspect is LED efficiency. Not all LEDs convert the same ratio of electrical energy to UV light energy, and this can play an important role in determining the amount of UV light energy is ultimately emitted. A low efficiency LED can mean that even a high power UV flashlight is not actually producing much useful UV light output. It isn\'t easy to determine UV LED efficiency, but generally, look out for lower-priced UV flashlights, as the LED chip is typically the most expensive component in a flashlight, and low efficiency values are typically the result of low-cost or over-driven LED chips.
