Characterization and modeling of a microwave driven xenon excimer lamp

We designed, constructed, and studied a novel probe-coupled 2.45 GHz microwave arrangement to drive a Xe excimer lamp. Electrical efficiency and output power in the 160-200 nm range (Xe second continuum) both increased with pressure and input power up to 1500 Torr and 600 W (42.5 W/cm(3)), respectively. The maximum in-range optical power was 60 W, more than 80% of the total. Cooling with liquid nitrogen boil off rather than room air more than doubled output power. Model calculation and experimental measurement of the angular distribution of emission find considerable intensity well away from the surface normal. Correcting experimental measurements of excimer lamp output power accordingly brings good agreement with the 20%-40% electrical efficiency predicted by theory. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)02111-8].