JP4720154B2 - Flash lamp light emitting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a flash lamp light emitting device, and more particularly to a flash lamp light emitting device used as a heat source for performing heat treatment in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a thin film transistor device manufacturing process, a liquid crystal substrate manufacturing process, and the like.

In the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device and the manufacturing process of the thin film transistor device, the development of an annealing process technology using a flash lamp is in progress. For example, in the manufacturing process of the state-of-the-art logic LSI device, the thickness (depth) of the semiconductor wafer A light emitting device equipped with a flash lamp is used for annealing for activating impurities introduced by ion implantation into the surface layer portion of 10 to 15 nm.
Such an annealing process of the semiconductor wafer requires heating only the surface layer of the semiconductor wafer to a predetermined high temperature of, for example, 1000 ° C. or more and with high temperature uniformity over the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer. .
Further, heating only the surface layer of the object to be processed to a high temperature can be suitably achieved by a method of irradiating the object to be processed with flash light from the flash lamp, but the flash lamp is usually in a rod shape. Independently, the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer cannot be heated to a state with high temperature uniformity.

  Therefore, it has been proposed to use a flash lamp light emitting device in which a plurality of bar-shaped flash lamps are arranged in parallel, but in practice, in order to cope with a large-diameter semiconductor wafer in recent years, It is necessary to drive a large number of flash lamps side by side.

  However, in the flash lamp, when driven, a very large sound pressure impact is generated and a large burst noise is generated. For example, a flash lamp having a length of 360 mm and a distance between electrodes of 280 mm is applied with an input energy of 5 kJ. When driven, the sound pressure level of the impact of the generated sound pressure reaches a level of about 90 dB with a flat characteristic. Therefore, in a normal flash lamp light emitting device, the number of flash lamps may be small and the generated burst sound However, it has been found that the impact of this sound pressure may be a problem particularly when a plurality of flash lamps having large input energy are driven simultaneously.

For example, in a semiconductor device manufacturing site using a semiconductor wafer, it has been found that when a flash lamp light emitting device is installed, an important problem occurs because the flash lamp light emitting device becomes a sound source or a vibration source. . That is, in the manufacture of a semiconductor device, for example, in the exposure process of a circuit pattern or the like, a fine and highly accurate processing process, for example, an exposure process with a line width on the order of submicrons is required. When vibration is transmitted to a wafer or a processing apparatus, a phenomenon occurs in which processing accuracy decreases due to the influence.
Therefore, in an actual semiconductor device manufacturing site, a sound source or a vibration source having a sound pressure level exceeding 70 dB needs to be excluded. Eventually, a flash lamp light emitting device having a plurality of flash lamps is used as it is. It cannot be used, and a large burst sound from the flash lamp itself is an impact of a very large sound pressure, so various devices and members provided in the flash lamp light emitting device, and Since the workpiece to be irradiated with light is vibrated, there is a problem that the desired processing cannot be suitably achieved, and the operator's body is adversely affected.

  In order to solve the above problems, a soundproof plate is provided together with a flash lamp inside a housing having a light emission window, and the soundproof plate is configured to reduce the sound pressure level of the impact of sound pressure on the outside. A lamp light emitting device (see, for example, Patent Document 1) or a flash lamp light emitting device having a structure in which a soundproof material is attached to a housing itself in which a flash lamp is arranged is used.

  However, in such a flash lamp light emitting device, a soundproofing member such as a soundproofing plate or a soundproofing material is provided, and a large power source is used as a driving power source for simultaneously driving a plurality of flashlamps having large input energy. Therefore, the size of the device itself increases and its weight increases, and the load resistance of the floor where the flash lamp light emitting device is installed becomes a problem. Therefore, the device can be reduced in weight and reduced in size. It is requested.

JP 2003-17432 A

  In the present invention, the inventors have intensively studied the cause of the burst sound generated when driving the flash lamp, which has not been completely elucidated due to various theories so far, and the cause is the inside of the casing where the flash lamp is arranged. As a result of finding that water vapor and oxygen present in the atmosphere are heated by absorbing vacuum ultraviolet light or infrared light emitted from the flash lamp, and the pressure inside the housing increases rapidly. An object of the present invention is to provide a small flash lamp light emitting device in which a flash lamp is arranged and the sound pressure level of the generated sound pressure is small.

A flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention includes a flash lamp in which a pair of electrodes are disposed to face each other inside an arc tube, and a housing having a lamp arrangement space for arranging the flash lamp therein.
Water vapor pressure reducing means for reducing the water vapor pressure in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space in the housing is provided.

In the flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention, the arc tube of the flash lamp is made of a material that transmits vacuum ultraviolet light,
It is preferable that oxygen concentration reducing means for reducing the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space in the housing is provided.

  In the flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention, it is preferable that the water vapor pressure reducing means is made of an adsorbent that adsorbs water vapor from an atmosphere forming gas for forming the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space in the housing.

  In the flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention, it is preferable that the oxygen concentration reducing means is made of an adsorbent that adsorbs oxygen from an atmosphere forming gas for forming the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space in the housing.

  The flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention has a cooling air supply circulation path that communicates with both ends of the lamp arrangement space and supplies cooling air into the lamp arrangement space, and is provided on the cooling air supply circulation path. It is preferable that at least one of water vapor pressure reducing means and oxygen concentration reducing means is provided.

  In the flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention, the water vapor pressure in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space in the housing is preferably 300 Pa or less.

  In the flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention, the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space in the housing is preferably 0.02% by volume or less.

According to the flash lamp light emitting device of the first aspect of the present invention, the water vapor pressure reducing means is provided, and the water vapor in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space formed inside the housing by the action of the water vapor pressure reducing means. By reducing the pressure relative to the water vapor pressure in the external atmosphere, water vapor present in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space, which is one cause of the impact of the bursting sound generated when the flash lamp is driven, is radiated from the flash lamp. Since the pressure inside the housing can be prevented from suddenly rising due to being heated by absorbing vacuum ultraviolet light and infrared light, the sound pressure level of the generated sound pressure is reduced. As a result, the flash lamp light emitting device can effectively prevent harmful effects caused by the sound source or the vibration source, and the housing Arranged disposed member parts can be prevented from being deteriorated by the vibration caused by the driving of the flash lamp.
In addition, since the sound pressure level of the generated sound pressure impact is small, it is not always necessary to provide a soundproofing member in the flash lamp light emitting device itself, so the device itself can be reduced in size by reducing the weight. Can do.

According to the flash lamp light emitting device of the second aspect of the present invention, the oxygen concentration reducing means is provided together with the water vapor pressure reducing means, and is formed inside the casing by the action of the water vapor pressure reducing means and the oxygen concentration reducing means. The lamp arrangement, which is the cause of the burst sound generated when the flash lamp is driven, by reducing the water vapor pressure and oxygen concentration in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space compared to the water vapor pressure and oxygen concentration in the external atmosphere. Water vapor present in the atmosphere of the space is warmed by absorbing vacuum ultraviolet light and infrared light emitted from the flash lamp, and oxygen present in the lamp arrangement space absorbs vacuum ultraviolet light emitted from the flash lamp. Suppressing the sudden rise in pressure inside the housing due to heating by absorption Therefore, the sound pressure level of the impact of the generated sound pressure is low, and as a result, it is possible to effectively prevent harmful effects caused by the flash lamp light emitting device becoming a sound source or a vibration source, and It is possible to suppress the deterioration of the disposing member disposed on the surface due to the vibration accompanying the driving of the flash lamp.
In addition, since the sound pressure level of the generated sound pressure impact is small, it is not always necessary to provide a soundproofing member in the flash lamp light emitting device itself, so the device itself can be reduced in size by reducing the weight. Can do.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing an example of the configuration of the flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention.
This first flash lamp light emitting device 10 is composed entirely of an outer peripheral side wall plate having an upper plate 12A, a lower plate 12B, and a front plate 12C that can be opened and closed, on which a cooling air inlet 15 and a cooling air outlet 16 are formed. The lower surface plate 12B, which includes a casing 12 configured in a rectangular parallelepiped shape and extends in the horizontal direction, is provided with a light emission window 14 by closing an opening formed therein with a quartz glass plate. Yes. As a material of the housing 12, for example, an aluminum plate or a stainless steel plate is used.

  In the lamp arrangement space formed inside the housing 12, a large number of rod-like flash lamps 20 each extending linearly are mounted on the lower surface of the upper surface plate 12 </ b> A of the housing 12, for example, a ceramic lamp. By being held by a holding member (not shown), they are arranged in a state of being parallel to each other in a horizontal plane (a state of being arranged in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1).

As the flash lamp 20, for example, a light emitting gas such as xenon gas is enclosed, and both ends are sealed, and a straight tube type arc tube that divides a discharge space inside, and a discharge inside the arc tube. A pair of electrodes made of, for example, tungsten or a material containing tungsten as a main component, facing each other in the space, and provided with a trigger electrode 23 arranged to extend in the tube axis direction along the outer surface of the arc tube. Is used.
In FIG. 1, 19 is an insulating lead wire relay member for introducing various lead wires into the housing 12 from the outside, which is disposed on the upper surface plate 12A of the housing 12, and 28 is The high voltage generator includes a trigger voltage application circuit necessary for driving the flash lamp 20 to be turned on, and the trigger voltage application circuit is not limited to the external trigger system as shown in FIG. An internal trigger method may be employed in which a high trigger voltage is applied to the electrodes in a superimposed manner.

  The arc tube constituting the flash lamp 20 is made of transparent glass, but is made of a material that is not transparent to vacuum ultraviolet light (light having a wavelength of 200 nm or less) such as quartz glass doped with titanium. It is preferable.

  Further, a reflector (not shown) made of, for example, aluminum having a concave groove or a bowl-shaped groove corresponding to each of the flash lamps 20 in the lamp arrangement space in the casing 12 is connected to the upper surface plate 12A of the casing 12. It arrange | positions between the flash lamps 20, and is supported by the lower surface of 12 A of upper surface boards by the appropriate supporting member (not shown).

  The reflector is preferably one-piece with flutes corresponding to all flash lamps 20, but a collection of reflector elements having a single ridge corresponding to each of the flash lamps 20, Alternatively, it may be an assembly of reflector elements having a plurality of bowl-shaped grooves corresponding to a plurality of flash lamps 20. Here, it is preferable that the reflector completely covers the inter-electrode region of the flash lamp 20.

In the first flash lamp light emitting device 10, an adsorbent (hereinafter also referred to as “water vapor adsorbent”) that adsorbs water vapor from an atmosphere-forming gas for forming the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space in the housing 12. Thus, the water vapor pressure reducing means 30 having a function of reducing the water vapor pressure in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space is provided.
As the water vapor adsorbent constituting the water vapor pressure reducing means 30, those having strong adsorption characteristics with respect to water vapor such as molecular sieve and activated alumina can be suitably used.

  Specifically, the first flash lamp light emitting device 10 includes an adsorbent filling pipe (hereinafter referred to as a “water vapor adsorbent pipe”) in which a water vapor pressure reducing means 30 made of a water vapor adsorbent is arranged to communicate with the cooling air inlet 15. The cooling air is supplied to one or both of the atmosphere forming gas inlet 31 A and the cooling air outlet 16 of the water vapor adsorbent tank 31 that is provided in a state of being filled in the cooling air inlet 15 and communicates with the cooling air inlet 15. An apparatus (not shown) is connected, and the cooling air flowing from the cooling air inlet 15 as the atmosphere forming gas through the water vapor pressure reducing means 30 flows through the lamp arrangement space inside the housing 12 and cools. The air is discharged from the air outlet 16.

  Further, the first flash lamp light emitting device 10 is provided with a humidity sensor 38 inside the housing 12, and the humidity sensor 38 monitors the water vapor pressure in the lamp arrangement space. It is possible to grasp that the adsorption capacity of the water vapor adsorbent has decreased due to the use or the like, so that the atmosphere in the lamp arrangement space can be reliably brought into a desired state.

In the first flash lamp light emitting device 10 configured as described above, when a drive signal is applied, a high voltage from the high voltage generator 28 is applied, whereby the plurality of flash lamps 20 are driven simultaneously. A flash is emitted all at once.
The flash from the flash lamp 20 is reflected directly or by a reflector, and is emitted below the housing 12 through the light emission window 14.
Therefore, by placing an object to be processed supported by an appropriate support member at a position below the light emission window 14, the object to be processed is irradiated with flash light and a target process is performed.

  The atmosphere in the lamp arrangement space is formed in the lamp arrangement space in the housing 12 by the cooling air supplied from the cooling air inlet 15, and this cooling air is supplied as steam from the cooling air supply device as the atmosphere forming gas. In the process of reaching the cooling air inlet 15 via the pressure reducing means 30, the amount of water vapor removed by the water vapor adsorbent constituting the water vapor pressure reducing means 30 is reduced, so that The atmosphere is in a state where the water vapor pressure is smaller than the water vapor pressure in the external atmosphere (specifically, in the air).

Here, the water vapor pressure in the lamp arrangement space of the housing 12 is preferably 300 Pa or less.
When the water vapor pressure is 300 Pa or less, the sound pressure level of the impact of the sound pressure generated when the flash lamp 20 is driven can be sufficiently reduced, as will be apparent from experiments described later.

  Thus, since the lamp arrangement space in the housing 12 is in a state where the amount of water vapor present in the atmosphere is small, the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space, which is a cause of the burst sound generated when the flash lamp 20 is driven. Since the water vapor present therein is heated by absorbing vacuum ultraviolet light and infrared light emitted from the flash lamp 20, it is possible to suppress a rapid increase in pressure inside the housing 12. Although the burst sound from the flash lamp 20 is generated, the sound pressure level is reduced, and the sound pressure level of the generated sound pressure is reduced.

Therefore, the first flash lamp light emitting device 10 is prevented from forming a sound source having a large sound pressure level with respect to the outside, and this is accompanied by a harmful effect even in an environment where the coexistence of such a sound source is prohibited. The first flash lamp light emitting device 10 can be used without any change, and the arrangement members such as the high voltage generator 28 arranged in the housing 12 are deteriorated by vibration accompanying the driving of the flash lamp 20. In addition, it does not adversely affect nearby workers.
In addition, since the sound pressure level of the generated sound pressure is small, it is not always necessary to provide a soundproof member such as a soundproof plate or a soundproof material in the first flash lamp light emitting device 10 itself. By downsizing, downsizing can be achieved.

  In the first flash lamp light emitting device 10, when the cooling air flows through the lamp arrangement space inside the housing 12, the flash lamp 20 arranged in the lamp arrangement space, the reflector, and a high voltage are generated. Since the arrangement members such as the device 28 and the humidity sensor 38 are directly cooled, the arrangement members are prevented from being overheated, and in particular, the flash lamp 20 can be used with a long service life.

  Furthermore, when the arc tube constituting the flash lamp 20 is made of a material that does not transmit vacuum ultraviolet light, it is in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space, which is another cause of the burst sound generated when the flash lamp 20 is driven. Since the oxygen present is warmed by absorbing the vacuum ultraviolet light radiated from the flash lamp 20, it is possible to suppress a sudden rise in the pressure inside the housing 12, and thus the generated sound The sound pressure level of the pressure impact can be further reduced.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view schematically showing another example of the configuration of the flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention.
This second flash lamp light emitting device 40 is provided with an oxygen concentration reducing means 45 having a function of reducing the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space formed inside the housing 12, and an oxygen concentration sensor 48. The first flash lamp light emitting device 10 according to the first embodiment, except that the arc tube constituting the flash lamp 20 is made of a material that transmits vacuum ultraviolet light such as sapphire or synthetic quartz glass. It has the same configuration as.

  As the oxygen concentration reducing means 45, an adsorbent that adsorbs oxygen from the atmosphere forming gas for forming the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space in the casing 12 (hereinafter also referred to as “oxygen adsorbent”) is used. As this oxygen adsorbent, those having excellent oxygen separation characteristics such as a copper catalyst can be suitably used.

Specifically, the second flash lamp light emitting device 40 includes an atmosphere of the water vapor adsorbent tube 31 in a state where the oxygen concentration reducing means 45 made of an oxygen gas adsorbent is filled with the water vapor adsorbent as the water vapor pressure reducing means 30. The adsorbent filling pipe (hereinafter also referred to as “oxygen adsorbent pipe”) 46 communicating with the forming gas inlet 31A is provided in a state of being filled, and the cooling air inlet 15 is provided via the water vapor adsorbent pipe 31. A cooling air supply device (not shown) is connected to one or both of the atmosphere forming gas inlet 46A and the cooling air outlet 16 of the oxygen adsorbent rod 46 communicating with the oxygen adsorbent rod 46, and the oxygen concentration reducing means 45 and water vapor are used as the atmosphere forming gas. The cooling air that flows in from the cooling air inlet 15 via the pressure reducing means 30 flows through the lamp arrangement space inside the housing 12 and is discharged from the cooling air outlet 16.
In FIG. 2, members having the same configuration as the members constituting the first flash lamp light emitting device 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  In the example of this figure, the second flash lamp light emitting device 40 has a configuration in which the water vapor pressure reducing means 30 and the oxygen concentration reducing means 45 are stacked above the cooling air inlet 15 in this order. The pressure reducing means 30 and the oxygen concentration reducing means 45 may be stacked in the order of the oxygen concentration reducing means 45 and the water vapor pressure reducing means 30, and the oxygen adsorbent and the water vapor adsorbent are placed in one adsorbent filling tube. It may be filled in a partitioned state or in an unpartitioned state.

  The oxygen concentration sensor 48 is provided inside the housing 12, and the oxygen concentration sensor 48 monitors the oxygen concentration in the lamp arrangement space. Therefore, the atmosphere in the lamp arrangement space can be reliably brought into a desired state.

  In the second flash lamp light emitting device 40 configured as described above, a drive signal is applied in the same manner as in the first flash lamp light emitting device 10, whereby a plurality of flash lamps 20 are simultaneously driven and flashed simultaneously. The flashlight from the flash lamp 20 is emitted below the housing 12 through the light emission window 14, and the object to be processed disposed at the position below the light emission window 14 is irradiated with the flashlight. Is performed.

  The atmosphere in the lamp arrangement space is formed in the lamp arrangement space in the housing 12 by the cooling air supplied from the cooling air inlet 15, and this cooling air is supplied as steam from the cooling air supply device as the atmosphere forming gas. In the process of reaching the cooling air inlet 15 via the pressure reducing means 30 and the oxygen concentration reducing means 45, the water vapor is removed by the water vapor adsorbent constituting the water vapor pressure reducing means 30 and the oxygen constituting the oxygen concentration reducing means 30. Since the oxygen is removed by the adsorbent and the amount of water vapor is small and the oxygen concentration is low, the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space is such that the water vapor pressure and oxygen concentration are in the external atmosphere (specifically, in the air) The water vapor pressure and the oxygen concentration are small.

Here, in the lamp arrangement space of the housing 12, the water vapor pressure is preferably 300 Pa or less and the oxygen concentration is preferably 0.02% by volume or less.
Since the water vapor pressure is 300 Pa or less and the oxygen concentration is 0.02% by volume or less, the sound pressure level of the impact of the sound pressure generated when the flash lamp 20 is driven is sufficiently high, as will be apparent from the experiment described later. Can be small.

  Thus, since the lamp arrangement space in the casing 12 is in a state where the amount of water vapor and oxygen concentration present in the atmosphere are low, the lamp arrangement space that is the cause of the burst sound generated when the flash lamp 20 is driven. The water vapor present in the atmosphere is heated by absorbing vacuum ultraviolet light and infrared light emitted from the flash lamp 20, and oxygen present in the lamp arrangement space is emitted from the flash lamp 20 in vacuum ultraviolet light. Since the internal pressure of the housing 12 is suppressed from suddenly rising due to being warmed by absorbing the water, a burst sound from the flash lamp 20 is generated, but the sound pressure level is reduced, The sound pressure level of the impact of the generated sound pressure is small.

Therefore, since the second flash lamp light emitting device 40 is prevented from forming a sound source having a large sound pressure level with respect to the outside, it is also harmful even in an environment where the coexistence of such sound sources is prohibited. The second flash lamp light emitting device 40 can be used without any change, and the arrangement members such as the high voltage generator 28 arranged inside the housing 12 are deteriorated by vibration accompanying the driving of the flash lamp 20. In addition, it does not adversely affect nearby workers.
Further, since the sound pressure level of the generated sound pressure is low, it is not always necessary to provide a soundproofing member such as a soundproofing plate or a soundproofing material in the second flash lamp light emitting device 40 itself. By downsizing, downsizing can be achieved.

  In the second flash lamp light emitting device 40, when the cooling air flows through the lamp arrangement space inside the housing 12, the flash lamp 20, the reflector, and the high voltage generated in the lamp arrangement space are generated. Since the arrangement members such as the device 28, the humidity sensor 38, and the oxygen concentration sensor 48 are directly cooled, the arrangement members are prevented from being overheated. In particular, the flash lamp 20 is used with a long service life. it can.

  Since the flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention as described above can easily reduce the sound pressure level of the impact of the sound pressure to the outside to 70 dB or less, it is particularly suitable for heat treatment of a semiconductor wafer in a semiconductor device manufacturing process. It can be suitably used as a heat source.

Various modifications can be made to the flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention.
Various examples shown below are common to the first flash lamp light emitting device and the second flash lamp light emitting device, and in these examples, the first flash lamp light emitting device and the second flash lamp are used. The water vapor pressure reducing means, which is an essential component of the light emitting device, and the oxygen concentration reducing means, which is an essential component of the second flash lamp light emitting device, are collectively shown as “specific reducing means”.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the flash lamp light emitting device communicates with the lamp arrangement space in the housing 12 at one end 51A and the other end 51B, and supplies cooling air to supply the cooling air into the lamp arrangement space. The specific reduction means 70 may be provided on the cooling air supply circulation channel 51 and the casing 12 may be sealed.
The flash lamp light emitting device 50 of the example of FIG. 3 has a U-shaped cooling air whose one end 51 </ b> A communicates with the cooling air inlet 15 via the specific reduction means 70 and the other end 51 </ b> B communicates with the cooling air outlet 16. Except that the supply circulation path 51 is provided, the first flash lamp light emitting device 10 shown in FIG. 1 or the second flash lamp light emitting device 40 shown in FIG. 2 has the same configuration.
In FIG. 3, 52 is a heat exchanger.

In this flash lamp light emitting device 50, for example, 30 flash lamps 20 with an inter-electrode distance of 280 mm are arranged in the lamp arrangement space in the housing 12, and each of these flash lamps 20 is input at 1.6 kJ. When driven simultaneously with energy, the inside of the housing 12 becomes high temperature (about 200 ° C.), but is discharged from the cooling air outlet 16 to be introduced into the cooling air supply circulation path 51, and this cooling air The circulating wind supplied through the supply circulation path 51 again from the cooling wind inlet 15 into the lamp arrangement space at a flow rate of, for example, about 3 m ³ per minute is heated in the process of flowing through the cooling wind supply circulation path 51. Since it functions as cooling air by being cooled to room temperature by the exchanger 52, it is possible to prevent the arrangement member inside the housing 12 from being overheated.
In addition, in the flash lamp light emitting device having a configuration in which the housing is sealed in this way, the heat exchanger is not essential, for example, when the input energy of the flash lamp is small, or when the lighting cycle of the flash lamp is long In the case where the circulating air is sufficiently cooled only by flowing through the cooling air supply circulation path, it is not necessary to provide a heat exchanger.

  In this case, since the casing 12 is hermetically sealed, the water vapor pressure and the oxygen concentration may fluctuate greatly after the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space in the casing 12 is once brought into an intended state. Therefore, it is not always necessary to provide a humidity sensor or an oxygen concentration sensor.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the flash lamp light emitting device includes a specific reducing means unit (specifically, water vapor made of water vapor adsorbent) in a state where the specific reducing means 70 made of adsorbent is filled in the adsorbent pipe 71. The water vapor adsorbing means unit in which the pressure reducing means is filled in the water vapor adsorbent pipe or the oxygen concentration reducing means unit in which the oxygen adsorbing pipe made of oxygen adsorbent is filled in the oxygen adsorbent pipe is connected to the duct 54A. The cooling air is supplied to the lamp arrangement space through the specific reduction means 70, the duct 54A, the cooling air flow passage 55, and the duct 54B in this order. Also good.
In this case, since it is not necessary to provide the specific reduction means unit integrally with the housing 12, the degree of freedom in design is increased, and a flash lamp is disposed inside the housing 12. Weight reduction can be achieved.

  Further, the flash lamp light emitting device may have a configuration in which two specific reduction means units of the same type are provided and these two specific reduction means units can be used alternately. In this case, the replacement operation that is performed when the adsorption capacity is reduced due to, for example, a long-term use of the adsorbent constituting the specific reduction unit can be performed without stopping the operation of the flash lamp light emitting device itself. .

  Furthermore, in a flash lamp light emitting device having two specific reduction means units of the same type, when a copper catalyst is used as the oxygen concentration reduction means, the oxygen adsorbed by heating the copper catalyst in a hydrogen atmosphere is reduced. Utilizing that it has a property of separating and separating, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, together with two oxygen concentration reducing means units 60A and 60B, while introducing an atmosphere forming gas into one oxygen concentration reducing means unit In addition, by providing a unit refresh mechanism for performing oxygen separation / desorption processing by heating the other oxygen concentration reducing means unit while supplying hydrogen gas, two oxygen concentration reducing means are provided without performing the operation of replacing the unit itself. Oxygen separation / desorption processing can be alternately performed on the units 60A and 60B.

The unit refresh mechanism of FIG. 5 includes a hydrogen gas supply device 61 and heating devices 62A and 62B for heating each of the oxygen concentration reducing means units 60A and 60B, and hydrogen gas flow path selection valves 64A and 64B and By the atmosphere forming gas flow path selection valves 65A and 65B, hydrogen gas is alternately introduced into the one oxygen concentration reducing means unit from the hydrogen gas supply device 61, and the atmosphere forming gas is supplied to the other oxygen concentration reducing means unit. A flow path is formed in which an atmosphere forming gas used as cooling air is introduced from the gas flow path 63A. In FIG. 5, 63B is a cooling air flow path, and 61A is an exhaust gas flow path for gas discharged from the oxygen concentration reducing means used in the oxygen separation / desorption processing.
When molecular sieves and activated alumina are used as the means for reducing the water vapor pressure, they have the property of separating and separating the adsorbed water when they are heated. By using the mechanism shown in FIG. 5, the two water vapor pressure reducing means can be alternately subjected to water separation / detachment processing.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the flash lamp light emitting device is a dry gas that does not contain a certain amount or more of oxygen and water vapor such as nitrogen gas, helium gas, neon gas, argon gas, krypton gas, and xenon gas. May be configured by a gas supply device 66 for supplying the gas into the housing.
In FIG. 6, 67 is a flow rate adjusting valve, 68 is a duct, and 69 is a gas flow path.
This gas supply device 66 can be used as a water vapor pressure reducing means by appropriately selecting the type of gas to be supplied, and can also be used as an oxygen concentration reducing means, as well as a water vapor pressure reducing means and an oxygen concentration reducing means. It can also be used as a means.

Furthermore, the flash lamp light emitting device of the present invention has, for example, a structure in which a soundproof plate is disposed inside a housing (see Patent Document 1), and a structure in which a soundproof material is attached to the housing. Such a member may be provided with a soundproofing member.
In this case, since the sound pressure level of the impact of the generated sound pressure is small, the total weight of the soundproofing member used is, for example, the thickness compared to that used in the conventional flash lamp light emitting device. Since the thickness can be reduced by reducing the thickness, the size can be reduced by reducing the weight.

  Hereinafter, experimental examples performed for confirming the effects of the present invention will be described.

[Experimental Example 1]
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the configuration of the experimental apparatus used in the experiment.
This experimental apparatus has two gas introduction ports 81A and 81B, and nitrogen gas is supplied from one gas introduction port 81A through water or molecular sieve filled in the container 82A, The other gas inlet 81B includes a casing 81 configured to be supplied with water or molecular sieves filled in the container 82B, and by adjusting the filling of each of the containers 82A and 82B The humidity inside the casing 81 can be changed, and the oxygen concentration inside the casing 81 can be adjusted by adjusting the flow rate of nitrogen gas from the gas inlet 81A and the flow rate of air from the gas inlet 81B. It is a thing of the structure which can be changed.
In FIG. 7, 84 is a thermometer, 85 is a hygrometer, 86 is an oximeter, and 87 is a microphone.

The interelectrode distance provided with an arc tube made of quartz glass doped with titanium, which is a material that is not permeable to vacuum ultraviolet light (light with a wavelength of 200 nm or less), inside the casing 81 of this experimental apparatus. One flash lamp 89 of 250 mm is arranged, and the flash lamp 89 is changed while changing the water vapor pressure under the constant environmental conditions of the temperature of 26 ° C. and the oxygen concentration of 20% by volume. The magnitude of the burst sound generated when driven with an input energy of 1.6 kJ was measured by a microphone 87 arranged at a distance of 30 cm from the flash lamp. The results are shown in FIG.
Here, the water vapor pressure inside the housing 81 was determined based on the humidity inside the housing 81 and the saturated water vapor amount at a temperature of 26 ° C.

From the above results, when a flash lamp having an arc tube made of a material that is not permeable to vacuum ultraviolet light is used, the sound pressure level of the popping sound decreases as the water vapor pressure decreases. In particular, when the water vapor pressure was 300 Pa or less, it was confirmed that the tendency becomes remarkable and the size has no practical problem.
Here, when the sound pressure level measured by the microphone 87 is 100 dB or less, it was confirmed that the sound pressure level with respect to the outside of the casing of the experimental apparatus was 70 dB or less.

[Experimental example 2]
Using the experimental apparatus used in Experimental Example 1, first, a lamp 81 made of synthetic quartz glass, which is a material that transmits vacuum ultraviolet light, is used as the flash lamp 89 inside the casing 81 of this experimental apparatus. The explosion sound generated in the same manner as in Experimental Example 1 except that the flash lamp 89 was driven while changing the oxygen concentration under a constant condition of a water vapor pressure of 300 Pa. The same measurement was performed when the water vapor pressure was set to a constant condition of 2000 Pa. These results are shown in FIG.
In FIG. 9, the measurement result when the water vapor pressure is 300 Pa is shown by a curve (A), and the measurement result when the water vapor pressure is 2000 Pa is shown by a curve (A).

From the above results, it was confirmed that the sound pressure level of the popping sound decreases as the oxygen concentration decreases when using a flash lamp having an arc tube made of a material that transmits vacuum ultraviolet light. In particular, when the oxygen concentration is 0.02% by volume or less under the condition of the water vapor pressure of 300 Pa, it is confirmed that the tendency becomes remarkable and the sound pressure level becomes a size having no practical problem. .
In addition, it was confirmed that the sound pressure level of the popping sound decreases as the water vapor pressure decreases even when a rush lamp having an arc tube made of a material that transmits vacuum ultraviolet light is used. .

It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly an example of a structure of the flash lamp light-emitting device of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematically the other example of a structure of the flash lamp light-emitting device of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the further another example of a structure of the flash lamp light-emitting device of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the further another example of a structure of the flash lamp light-emitting device of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the structure of an example of the unit refresh mechanism provided in the flash lamp light-emitting device of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the further another example of a structure of the flash lamp light-emitting device of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the structure of the experimental apparatus used in Experimental example 1. FIG. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the water vapor pressure which concerns on Experimental example 1, and a sound pressure level. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the oxygen concentration and sound pressure level which concern on Experimental example 2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Flash lamp light-emitting device 12 Housing | casing 12A Upper surface board 12B Lower surface board 12C Front board 14 Light emission window 15 Cooling air inlet 16 Cooling air outlet 19 Lead wire relay member 20 Flash lamp 23 Trigger electrode 28 High voltage generator 30 Water vapor pressure reduction means 31 Adsorbent filling tube 31A Atmosphere forming gas inlet 38 Humidity sensor 40 Flash lamp light emitting device 45 Oxygen concentration reducing means 46 Adsorbent filling tube 46A Atmospheric forming gas inlet 48 Oxygen concentration sensor 50 Flash lamp light emitting device 51 Circulating path 51A for supplying cooling air One end 51B The other end 52 Heat exchanger 54A, 54B Duct 55 Cooling air flow path 60A, 60B Oxygen concentration reducing means unit 61 Hydrogen gas supply device 61A Exhaust gas flow path 62A, 62B Heating device 63A Atmosphere forming gas flow path 63B Cooling air flow path 64A 64B Hydrogen gas Flow path selection valve 65A, 65B Atmosphere forming gas flow path selection valve 66 Gas supply device 67 Flow rate adjustment valve 68 Duct 69 Gas flow path 70 Specific reduction means 71 Adsorbent pipe 81 Housing 81A, 81B Gas inlets 82A, 82B Container 84 Thermometer 85 Hygrometer 86 Oxygen meter 87 Microphone 89 Flash lamp

Claims (7)

A flash lamp in which a pair of electrodes are arranged to face each other inside the arc tube, and a housing having a lamp arrangement space for arranging the flash lamp therein.
A flash lamp light emitting device comprising a water vapor pressure reducing means for reducing the water vapor pressure in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space in the housing. The arc tube of the flash lamp is made of a material that transmits vacuum ultraviolet light,
2. The flash lamp light emitting device according to claim 1, further comprising oxygen concentration reducing means for reducing the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere of the lamp arrangement space in the housing.   3. The flash lamp light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the water vapor pressure reducing means comprises an adsorbent that adsorbs water vapor from an atmosphere forming gas for forming an atmosphere of a lamp arrangement space in the casing. .   4. The flash lamp light emitting device according to claim 2, wherein the oxygen concentration reducing means comprises an adsorbent that adsorbs oxygen from an atmosphere forming gas for forming an atmosphere of a lamp arrangement space in the casing. .   There is a cooling air supply circulation path communicating with the lamp arrangement space at both ends thereof and supplying cooling air into the lamp arrangement space, and the water vapor pressure reducing means and the oxygen concentration reducing means are provided on the cooling air supply circulation path. At least one of these is provided, The flash lamp light-emitting device in any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The flash lamp light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a water vapor pressure in an atmosphere of a lamp arrangement space in the housing is 300 Pa or less.   The flash lamp light emitting device according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein an oxygen concentration in an atmosphere of a lamp arrangement space in the housing is 0.02% by volume or less.

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