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Human-Safe
Far-UVC Light Today
New sources of far-UVC ultraviolet germicidal light, at wavelengths ranging from 200-to-230 nanometers, are ushering in a revolutionary new era in human safe disinfection of air, surfaces, and water. Far-UVC light can effectively deactivate the airborne pathogens that cause Covid, influenza, RSV, measles, TB, and many other potential deadly viral infections. And because its short wavelength does not penetrate the skin or eyes, it can be used in occupied public and private spaces. The NS Nanotech ShortWaveLight 215™ Emitter is the first efficient solid-state far-UVC light source. Along with far-UVC krypton-chloride (KrCL) gas lamps, it is enabling the first commercial far-UVC disinfection applications.
The ShortWaveLight 215 Emitter integrates a nitride semiconductor that emits far-UVC solid-state light at 215 nanometers for disinfection applications
Based on exclusively licensed patent portfolios from McGill University and the University of Michigan, NS Nanotech’s is introducing new methods for growing sub-micron-scale red, green, blue, and UVC nanowire-based LEDs.
And Future Nanoscale
Far-UVC LEDs
​Our ShortWaveLight 215 Emitter's proprietary nitride semiconductor architecture is based on a patented thermionic cathodoluminescent vacuum tube triode that generates light at 215 nanometers. As the first solid-state source of far-UVC light, it is enabling breakthroughs in germicidal UV applications.Equally important, it is a steppingstone on the path to semiconductor-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that emit invisible far-UVC light. NS Nanotech's R&D lab is undertaking a multiyear development effort to deliver the world's first nanowire-based far-UVC LEDs—a generational advance for disinfection akin to the lighting industry's decades-long progression from incandescent bulbs to inexpensive, long-lasting LEDs. ​​​
New Applications for a
100-Year-Old Technology
Traditional 254 nm UVC light has been used for disinfection for more than 100 years, but it suffers from a major drawback: it can't be used around people because its longer wavelength penetrates and damages live cells in skin and eyes. To avoid human harm, it has to be used when no one else is in a room. Or, it must be enclosed in HVAC systems or installed high in the room and pointed at the ceiling. But because short-wavelength far-UVC light from 200-to-230nm can be used more safely around people, it can directly disinfect the air and surfaces in locations where people gather. It enables an entirely new approach to UVC disinfection, providing constant, proactive photonic disinfection, rather than reactive, after-the-fact treatment of air and surfaces.
Learn how far-UVC light can be deployed to provide photonic disinfection in restaurants, schools, at work, in stores, in homes, and anywhere else people need to be protected from viruses and other pathogens.
How UVC Light
Deactivates VIruses
UVC light neutralizes viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens on surfaces and in air by disrupting their nuclear RNA to prevent them from reproducing. For more than a hundred years, UVC light has been used to sanitize air, surfaces, and water in factories, water treatment plants, office-buildings, schools, public transportation, and many other public and private spaces. Unfortunately, traditional UVC light at 254 nanometers can harm skin and eyes, so it has to be turned off when people are around. But recent academic research has found that shorter-wavelength UVC light known as "far-UVC" light, from 200-to-230nm, is less harmful to skin and eyes and can be used in many more places where people congregate.
The First Line of Defense
Against Viral Infections
Far-UVC light inactivates a vast range of microbes, viruses that cause Covid 19 and the flu, and other infectious pathogens in the air, water, and on surfaces. With a short spectrum wavelength range from 200-to-230 nanometers, if is safer to use around people than traditional UVC light at 254nm and longer wavelengths.
Invisible ultraviolet light in the far-UVC wavelength range is a first line of defense that can deactivate airborne viruses before you breathe them in. A second line of defense—your face mask—doesn't deactivate viruses but can stop them from entering your body. Vaccines then act as a third line of defense by preventing viruses from replicating after they've already entered your body and infected you. All three lines of defense will be important as Covid-19 becomes an endemic disease. But wide deployment of UVC disinfection at the front lines can dramatically lessen the viral load in the air, increasing the effectiveness of the second and third lines of defense.
One 2022 study demonstrated that far-UVC lights were able to neutralize 98 percent of airborne pathogens in an 11-by-14-foot room in less than five minutes.
The Far-UVC
Safety Breakthrough
Far-UVC light, at wavelengths from 200-to-230nm, deactivates viruses in the air but doesn't penetrate the skin far enough to reach live cells. When it reaches your body, your external"stratum corneum" layer of dead skin cells absorbs the light before it reaches your living cells. And when it reaches your eye, your protective tear layer absorbs the short far-UVC light waves before they can reach your cornea. Therefore far-UVC photonic disinfection can be used in many locations where longer-wavelength 254nm UVC light cannot be used.
Academic Research on Far-UVC
Safety and Efficacy
Research has shown that far-UVC light deactivates pathogens safely and effectively. Several Columbia University reports, including one in Nature, and one of many Kobe University studies, explain these advantages in detail. ​
