Customer Spotlight: Xenon Corporation

Xenon Corporation Collaborates with ILT to Offer a Hand-Held, App-Based Light Measurement Solution Capable of Measuring Xenon's Pulsed Light Sources.

 

Xenon Corporation

Xenon Corporation is a premier provider of pulsed light systems used in a variety of manufacturing processes.  Pulsed light offers benefits over continuous light sources as it can deliver more light faster, and at lower temperatures.  Ryan Hathaway, Sr. Applications Engineer with Xenon says, "to put it in laymen's terms, think of penetrating a block of wood with a nail:  one could press the nail into the wood with a finger for 10 seconds without effect, or exert the same amount of energy and drive the nail instantaneously into the wood with the single strike of a hammer.  Pulsed light, like the hammer, delivers light at high peak power for deep penetration."  In practice, pulsed light can be used in a variety of applications where intense energy is required, but where prolonged exposure to UV light can be harmful to the product.

 

 

Strobe Light

The challenge for Xenon Corporation was recommending a light meter that could accurately measure their light sources.  Typical light meters, even professional-grade ones, cannot react to rapid changes in light intensity, from zero/dark to peak.  This effect is similar to seeing well on a dance floor when strobe lights are flashing.  The human eye is simply not fast enough to adjust.  It's the same for most light meters that aren't specifically designed to do so.  

 

Previously Xenon Corporation had been recommending their customers use oscilloscopes for process validation.  While this was effective in measuring the light, the data captured was incomplete and cumbersome to analyze.  Xenon had been using ILT's products in their own lab for years and knew we had extensive experience with making precision light measurement systems.  Xenon evaluated the ILT2400 and liked the ergonomic design and app-based interface.  At the time the meter could not measure pulsed light, so Xenon reached out to us and asked if the device could be modified for their application.

 

Hathaway contacted Jill Fowler, ILT's Director of Light Measurement Solutions, who was excited for the opportunity to deliver a solution for Xenon.  Developing a solution to work with the pulsed light was two-fold.  First, modifications were made to increase the speed of the meter.  Second, an interface was created to capture the key pieces of data, including flash count (or number of flashes), irradiance and dose.  The custom "Flash App" on the meter's home screen was designed to offer Xenon customers an easy means of verifying the UV output of their pulsed lamp system, over a very broad range of intensities and pulse rates, for maximum versatility.  Because all of our design, development, and manufacturing is done on-site at our Peabody, Massachusetts office, ILT was able to come up with a solution for Xenon in a relatively short amount of time.

 

ILT2470XE Meter with Flash App

 

The ILT2470XE UV Measurement System is now available, and can be purchased directly from ILT. 

 

Contact us today to see how ILT can customize a light measurement solution for you.