Feeler: Nichia high power 365nm LEDs

[AntonF]

I too am curious....is this alive???

It seems to me there are enough newcomers to make another one "bulk" order for reduced price.

I've also found the other company producing UV LEDs:
http://www.nmsys.co.uk/index.php?component=content&id=13

 

[Tech_Junkie]

smells like spam.

 

[AntonF]

smells like spam.

It is not spam. I was looking for LED with wavelength 360nm or less and found this forum. If there is a discount for bulk order I'd like to join.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

Its been postponed again. I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[ostbey]

I recently bought two Nichia UV LEDs NCSU033B for a UV diving lamp project of mine, through Nichia Europe BV (Netherlands) for € 81.82 a piece, without any problems, after I asked them for a quote through their inquiries link.
The LEDs came by air mail directly from Japan; customs VAT was € 31.00.
Just wanted to let you know; the prices seem to have dropped a bit from what I have seen in the beginning of this thread.
My charge number was AA5059-UaP7M. This means (see NCSU033B specs):
AA=produced October 2010, Ua=365nm, P7=270-310mW, M=3.6-4.0V.

 

[ostbey]

sorry, double-post.

 

[HIMNL9]

I was wondering about their NC4U133 model ..... around 950mW at 365nm with 500mA (4 chips in serie) ..... probably they can be pushed safely til 600mA, keeping them heatsinked (their "absolute maximum rating" is 700mA), and with an LM3410 driver you can use a single Li-Ion cell .....

Just need to get a quotation price for them (wearing preventive bulletproof helmet :eg: .....)

 

[ostbey]

I was wondering about their NC4U133 model ..... around 950mW at 365nm with 500mA (4 chips in serie) ..... probably they can be pushed safely til 600mA, keeping them heatsinked (their "absolute maximum rating" is 700mA), and with an LM3410 driver you can use a single Li-Ion cell .....

Just need to get a quotation price for them (wearing preventive bulletproof helmet :eg: .....)

Please let us know your results...
Thanks!

 

[ostbey]

Dear flashaholics,

During last winter (2010/2011) I modified a dive torch (Underwater Kinetics UK Sunlight C4 eLED) with two Nichia NCSU033B ultraviolet LEDs (as mentioned above in one of my previous postings).

Recently I was finally able to test this torch under water in Hurghada/Egypt (Red Sea) in order to experience bio-fluorescence (which is what this project is all about).

You can find my results here: https://picasaweb.google.com/106199910917431710533/Hurghada2011
Or see here (more choice of video resolutions but no pictures): ostbey's Channel - YouTube

My camera is a Nikon Coolpix P300 with Ikelite underwater housing.
I only had three days with this camera under water, so please bear with me and the low quality...
Moreover, it seems that the torch is not powerful enough yet (the electrical power is 6W, the radiant flux according to the NCSU033B specs for a P7 at 700mA should on average be around 816 mW for the two LEDs together, or between 756 mW and 868 mW) for the autofocus to work properly.

In the meantime I have found manufacturers of commercially available torches for underwater bio-fluorescence (electrical power in parentheses):

NightSea BW-1 Blue/White Dive Light - NightSea BW-1 Blue/White Dive Light (3W)
Filters for UK Light Cannon - Filters for UK Light Cannon (10W)
BlueStar Light - BlueStar Light (1W)

Plongimage - Plongimage - photographie sous-marine : caissons étanches, flash, accessoires... Eclairage pour fluorescence
Dyron (6x4=24W/12x4=48W, or 75W/130W halogen-equivalent)

Hartenberger Unterwassertechnische Geräte GmbH, Taucherlampen, UW-Beleuchtung, UW-Blitzlichtgerte, wegweisend in der UW-Beleuchtungstechnik (mini compact LCD: 7x3.5W=28W, 21x2.5W=50W; maxi compact LCD: 7x3.5W=28W, 21x3W=60W)

All these lamps use blue LEDs instead of UV LEDs, with peak wavelengths around 450 nm.
Allegedly, UV does not excite the red fluorescing proteins (bild der wissenschaft online - Heftarchiv "Dummerweise regt UV aber nicht die Rot-Fluoreszenz an").
I personally suspect that it is also a question of safety (blue light is safer to handle than UV) and price (blue LEDs are probably cheaper - for a given desired output - than UV LEDs).

The Hartenberger fluorescent lamps are also used by Prof. Nico Michiels of the University of Tübingen for his research.

Prof. Horst Grunz has built his own based on equipment from TillyTec.
TillyTec also offers a UV lamp head with a single UV LED and a halogen-equivalent power of 10W.

You might also be interested in the videos (of much better quality than mine) by other people:

Night Dive Fluorescence HiTec LEDs corals Rotes Meer Reef Check - YouTube (10:06) (Prof. Horst Grunz)
Reef Night Dives Fluorescence Corals - YouTube (9:08) (Prof. Horst Grunz)
Biofluorescent Night Dive – Sunset Reef, East end of Grand Cayman | Led Dive Light Reviews (7:17) or
Biofluorescent Night Dive - Sunset Reef, East end of Grand Cayman - YouTube (7:17) (DrDichro)
ElQuseirPartAH264 - YouTube (5:24) (Prof. Horst Grunz)
Drachenkopf Scorpionfisch Fluorescence.mov - YouTube (4:16) (Prof. Horst Grunz)
Bio - Fluoresence night dive True Blue Dive Club - Grenada. - YouTube (2:55) (diveclubaquanauts)
Underwater fluorescence disco - Oceans - BBC - YouTube (2:31) (BBC)
Fluo- diving with Aquanauts Grenada - YouTube (2:20) (aquanautsgrenada)
Biofluorescent Night Dive # 2 - YouTube (1:59) (DrDichro)
Fluorescent night dive @ Grand CaymanCY-FL-Anemone!!!Halo!.MOV - YouTube (1:20) (DrDichro)
Coral Biofluorescence with Black Light - diver at end - YouTube (0:25) (DrDichro)
Coral Biofluorescence with Black Light - Halo FX - YouTube (0:25) (DrDichro)

Recently I also discovered a French online magazine with an article about bio-fluorescence diving:

Plongeur.com, la passion de la plonge sous-marine
“Plongeur.com Magazine” » plongee sous-marine (Télécharger le numéro #1)
pages 55-58 of 62 (page numbers according to Adobe Reader), or pages 108-115 (page numbers at the bottom of each page)

P.S.:
There are also some very nice bio-fluorescence pictures in issue #57 of Underwater Photography Magazine (but see also http://ejlabs.net/tmp/UwP57.pdf) on pages 56-59.
Or see the author's web page at https://picasaweb.google.com/111251440649789339400/KompoljskaJamaUV02#

Enjoy!

 

[ostbey]

See Steffen Beyer - Fluo-Diving for the complete collection of information about fluorescent night dives, which will be kept up to date as more information becomes available.

 

[arringtj]

Bump!!! I found UV 365 nm for 103.00 at roithner...
How would we mount this square diode in my jayrob solarforce ??? heheh... ; P

http://www.roithner-laser.com/datasheets/led_single/smd/uvled-365-330-smd.pdf

 

[Wolfman29]

Would the light produced by this even be visible?

 

[arringtj]

Nope... and that is the way I want it. I only want to see the fluorescence glow from UV excited objects in the dark.... diamonds and minerals yup =P

 

[ostbey]

Bump!!! I found UV 365 nm for 103.00 at roithner...
How would we mount this square diode in my jayrob solarforce ??? heheh... ; P

http://www.roithner-laser.com/datasheets/led_single/smd/uvled-365-330-smd.pdf

This is actually the same as the Nichia NCSU033B, which you'll find on their web page "UV LEDs".

You can also order them directly via their "inquiries" form. I paid 82 Euros per piece in October 2010.

For mounting four of these LEDs, I am planning this heat sink for my next project:

 

[ostbey]

Nope... and that is the way I want it. I only want to see the fluorescence glow from UV excited objects in the dark.... diamonds and minerals yup =P

Actually, there is SOME visible light (especially in turbid water):





Why is that?
See here: "The inherent visible light signature of an intense underwater ultraviolet light source due to combined Raman and fluorescence effects" (PDF 226KB)

In air, you will not see the beam itself, but a blueish shine back from the objects the beam hits, even from objects that do not fluoresce.

Here is a site with fluorescent images of fossils.

In case you want to know more about fluorescence under water, see here: "Bio-Fluorescence Night Dives".

 

[Flaminpyro]

I know some people at Nichia I will see what I can do to get some of these 365nm HP diodes.

We get all colors of Nichia diodes every year we go through 500k to 1 mill of them.