Atlas is proud to announce a new filter that will revolutionize xenon-arc filter technology called the Atlas Right Light filter, available in May 2008.
The Right Light filter, when combined with Atlas' state-of-the-art Xenon-arc light technology, a quartz outer filter or a newly developed CIRA (coated infrared absorbing) outer filter, provides the closest full spectrum match to natural sunlight available.
Recent applications done with the Right Light filter combination have shown that material degradation more closely matches that of end-use service environments. Additionally, since the cut-on to the short wavelength UV matches so well, experimenters can increase irradiance levels for greater acceleration without compromising correlation.
"The precise simulation of terrestrial sunlight, particularly in the short UV range, is even more critical for reliable weatherabilty testing of automotive coatings than originally thought," said Mark Nichols of Ford Motor Company. "Xenon light used in conjunction with the Right Light filter provides the appropriate ultraviolet spectrum for weathering of today's complex automotive coatings."
The ultimate goal of weathering instrument manufacturers like Atlas has been to match the natural sunlight spectral power distribution (SPD), especially in the short wavelength UV. It is most critical to match shorter wavelengths of the solar spectrum, which are higher in photon energy, because any mismatch is likelyto cause anomalous test results.