# UVA Aperture Florescent Tubes?



## sda46 (Jun 25, 2014)

Hi all,

I'm on the hunt for UVA Aperture Florescent Tubes - Basically I'm looking to cast a long thin line of UV light.

I understand aperture florescent tubes are often used to edge-light signs and have seen plenty about in the visible spectrum but nothing in UV.

I've had a good dig on Google and have come across a custom manufacturer who might be able to do them but don't want to go to that kind of expense.

I wonder whether they might be used in scanners or for UV ink curing?

If anyone has any ideas or could point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it.


Cheers!

Sam


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## jspeybro (Jun 28, 2014)

do you have a picture of what you want to achieve to illustrate?

with fluorescent tubes it is nearly impossible to focus them on a thin line. just adding a slit at a reasonable distance will reduce the light that you get through dramatically.
how thin do you want the line to be? 
At which distance from the source do you want to have the line?
are there space restrictions?

the easiest sollution would be to use a cylindrical lens in combination with an array of 365nm LEDs (e.g. LedEngin), but I don't know if this matches your definition of thin.
Another solution could be to find a cheap UV laser (which may not be that easy) and use a laser printer module. These contain a spinning polygon mirror that project a line. It may however be difficult to interface with the polygon mirror.

Johan


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## FRITZHID (Jun 28, 2014)

Adapting a laser scanner (or just building one) wouldn't be the hard part, finding a uv laser that meets your requirements is however.
Lasers operate in a very narrow spectrum.
What, exactly, are you needing a very narrow uv projected light line for? How much of the uv spectrum is required and how powerful? How long does it need to be?
Keep in mind, with a laser, the light line will be essentially turned on and off very quickly at any given location. Led and florescent lamps strobe slightly also but with a laser it is even more apparent.
The light from LED and florescent will also spread out allot more then a laser in a given distance, again raising the question "what is this for?" Lol
:welcome:


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