MERCURY-VAPOR DISCHARGE LAMP FOR A HOMOGENEOUS, PLANAR IRRADIATION

Known mercury-vapor discharge lamps for planar irradiation are provided with a lamp bulb made of quartz glass, which encloses a closed discharge space having a non-linear gas-discharge channel. In order to provide a structurally simple lamp, which also guarantees a highest possible homogeneity of the UV irradiation even for a small distance to the surface to be treated, it is proposed according to the invention that the lamp bulb is formed as a quartz-glass chamber defined by straight walls and having bottom, top, and side walls and is divided into sub-chambers by several separating webs made of quartz glass and projecting from the bottom wall to the top wall, wherein these sub-chambers include a front-most sub-chamber and a rear-most sub-chamber and form in series interconnection the non-linear gas-discharge channel, wherein the separating webs extend alternately from one side wall up to close to the opposite side wall, while leaving open a gap connecting adjacent sub-chambers in a fluid-communicating manner, wherein one electrode is allocated to the front-most sub-chamber and the other electrode is allocated to the rear-most sub-chamber.