Upgrades to GE Advanced Materials’ High-Purity Quartz Tubing Spark Higher Levels of Performance for Projector Lamps

BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — April 29, 2005 — GE Advanced Materials, Quartz, once again, has extended the performance limits of quartz lamp tubing for short arc, ultra-high-pressure mercury lamps. Three newly upgraded products from GE represent a significant improvement in high-purity quartz tubing, offering projector lamp manufacturers the potential for improved optical uniformity, excellent dimensional control, and increased lamp life.

The increase in purity arises from process improvements that GE implemented for its well-established standard, low-alkali, and synthetic tubing lines. Enhancements to GE’s proprietary furnace technology and control systems yield tubing with tolerances as tight as +/- 0.05 mm on critical tube dimensions. These enhancements have also helped optimize the surface finish quality and dimensional control of GE’s tubing, resulting in improved optical uniformity, increased lamp life, and more consistent operating parameters when compared to competitive quartz offerings.

“GE’s pioneering blend of high purity raw materials and state-of-the-art processes have helped bring these three truly unique products to customers,” said Dan Chirayath, product manager for Lamp & Fiber Optics, GE Advanced Materials, Quartz. “The enhanced performance and extended life may offer customers a competitive edge in the demanding market for high-pressure lamps used in data projectors, rear projection TVs, and other demanding projection applications.”

GE’s traditional tubing product, Type 214, sets the standard for clear, fused-quartz lamp tubing. A high-purity, high-temperature material with a low hydroxyl content, 214 quartz tubing enables superb optical transmission for high-pressure mercury lamps. It is economical and available in a wide range of sizes.

Type 244 tubing, GE’s low-alkali product, is similar to the company’s 214 quartz product, but special process controls help reduce its alkali content by up to 90 percent, and limit sodium and lithium to 0.2 ppm or lower. This ultra-pure material also offers significantly reduced potassium.

GE’s synthetic tubing product, Type 021AL, is made from dry synthetic fused silica to deliver superlative levels of purity and offer high transmittance across the visible range. Combining ultra-high purity with the advantages of low hydroxyl content allows 021AL tubing to yield significant resistance to solarization.

Reader enquiries

GE Bayer Silicones GmbH & Co. KG
Building V7
51368 LEVERKUSEN
Germany

Robert Scheib
robert.scheib@ge.com

Tel: +49 214 306 71 37
Fax: +49 214 306 71 26
Germany

+49 214 306 71 37

robert.scheib@​ge.com

www.ge.com