UV-C LEDs and their use in industrial and consumer applications

Christian Leirer | ams-OSRAM International GmbH

UV-C LEDs as a source of germicidal radiation are one of the big growth topics during the next years not only due to their potential to replace mercury lamps soon. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the research, development and application of these devices significantly.
Compared to conventional UV-C sources today there is still a gap in efficiency and price which is expected to narrow fast in the next years. However, the specific properties of the LED allow completely new and even more efficient system designs which could not be realized with conventional UV-C sources before.

This presentation will discuss industrialization requirements and market perspectives of UV-C LEDs. It will further high-light the broad variety of use cases along the development roadmap of UV-C LEDs focusing on the benefits and advantages of UV-C LEDs in the different systems and applications.

UV-C LED sources with high radiance enable highly efficient systems. Especially setups with very narrow radiation angles benefit from this LED property and allow a significantly smaller fixture size. The combination of UV-C LEDs and UV sensors not only allows a monitoring of the radiant flux from the LED or a verification of the applied dose but also enables the detection of microorganisms. With this information the treatment can be adjusted to the specific need in the application which leads to significant energy saving potentials.