Far-UVC has the potential to become the "antibiotics of the 21st century".
To achieve transformative impact on mitigating damage from future pandemics, Far-UVC should at least be routinely used in some contexts and manufacturing capacity should be ready to produce enough for wide coverage at a low enough cost.
This can only be achieved with solid-state sources.
We reviewed the potential target metrics
- cost per watt
- lifetime
- cost per fully-equipped classroom
We then formulated a set of milestones.
Our group converged on the following
- The first set of milestones is most likely to be reached by laser frequency doubling or electron beam pumping.
- The second set of milestones is most likely to be reached by laser frequency doubling. Electron beam pumping may struggle to reach this set.
- There is uncertainty whether laser frequency doubling can scale to the third set of milestones. AlGaN based LEDs may stand a chance of reaching this set first.
The group concluded that the while direct funding of technology development would accelerate development, the highest leverage can be obtained by making progress on public acceptance and market creation.
- Generation of even more robust datasets on safety of Far-UVC
- Demonstrations of efficacy in a real world setting ib a high-powered study.