EXFO is a global leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of light-based delivery systems. Our focus is within the following market applications:

Lamp Technology

Arc Lamp Technology

Mercury arc lamps are the most common lamp used in the UV spot curing industry. A typical arc lamp consists of a burner (light generator), reflector and terminals. The burner consists of a hollow quartz tube sealed at both ends that is filled with a starter gas and a trace amount of mercury. Metal electrodes pass through the ends of the sealed tube and form a small arc gap. The arc tube is held in an elliptical reflector, which has a high reflectivity coating in a desired spectral range. During operation, a voltage spike is applied to the electrodes to break down the starter gas and vaporize the mercury.

EXFO has incorporated a number of arc lamp technologies into it's product offerings based on the application requirements. Important factors that influence the design of these systems include the overall requirements related to optical energy, spectral distribution, control features, illumination area, and price.

The EXFO Advantage

All of our lamp based systems incorporate the proprietary Intelli-Lamp™ technology. The Intelli-Lamp™ circuitry generates data used within EXFO product control systems to protect the lamp and to optimize its performance.

100W Lamp Technology

The OmniCure® S1000 product contains a 100W high pressure mercury short arc lamp. The irradiance from this lamp is typically greater than 20,000 mW/cm² from 250 - 600 nm for a new lamp. The intensity distribution from this lamp has a numerical aperture of 0.37 (42-degree divergence angle).

• Higher Power: Through efficient optical design and lamp power management, EXFO has succeeded in delivering more light to the curing site than many commercially available 200W based lamp systems.
• Longer Lamp Life: EXFO has developed proprietary low-strike voltage power supplies to increase lamp life. Once the gas has been broken down, a current is passed through the gas at a lower voltage to generate the optical power. Together with the patented Intelli-Lamp™ technology the lamp the lamp life has been extended by more than 300%.

200W Lamp Technology

The OmniCure® S2000 and X-Cite® exacte products contain a 200W high pressure mercury short arc lamp. The irradiance from this lamp is typically greater than 35,000 mW/cm² from 250 - 600 nm for a new lamp. The intensity distribution from this lamp has a numerical aperture of 0.5 (60-degree divergence angle).

• Unmatched Optical Power: The OmniCure® S2000 produces the highest irradiance of any spot curing system on the market due to the high power of the lamp and the efficient optical design.

120W High Pressure Lamp Technology

The X-Cite® 120 products contain a 120W very high pressure mercury short arc lamp. The higher operating pressure of this lamp shifts a greater percentage of the optical energy into the continuum between the standard mercury peaks. As there are many fluorescent markers covering a broad range of the UV and visible spectrum, the X-Cite® 120 lamp technology provides a better overall spectrum for fluorescence microscopy.

High brightness is critical for fluorescence sources as the optical energy must be effectively coupled thru a lightguide, and then thru the optical train of the microscope. The irradiance from this lamp is typically greater than 50,000 mW/cm² from 250 - 600 nm for a new lamp when measured at the end of the lightguide.

• Unmatched Brightness at the Objective Plane: When compared with traditional HBO style fluorescent light sources, the X-Cite® 120W lamp typically delivers the same or more light to the objective plane. For select wavelengths and microscopes this lamp and optical coupling system can provide up to double the optical power.
• Improved Illumination Uniformity: This is a critical parameter for fluorescence studies. Thru the use of proprietary and in some cases patented optical system designs, EXFO has ensured the highest level of uniformity possible.