A straightforward method for Vacuum-Ultraviolet flux measurements: The case of the hydrogen discharge lamp and implications for solid-phase actinometry

Vacuum-Ultraviolet (VUV) radiation is responsible for the photo-processing of simple and complex molecules in several terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments. In the laboratory such radiation is commonly simulated by inexpensive and easy-to-use microwave-powered hydrogen discharge lamps. However, VUV flux measurements are not trivial and the methods/devices typically used for this purpose, mainly actinometry and calibrated VUV silicon photodiodes, are not very accurate or expensive and lack of general suitability to experimental setups. Here, we present a straightforward method for measuring the VUV photon flux based on the photoelectric effect and using a gold photodetector. This method is easily applicable to most experimental setups, bypasses the major problems of the other methods, and provides reliable flux measurements. As a case study, the method is applied to a microwave-powered hydrogen discharge lamp. In addition, the comparison of these flux measurements to those obtained by O2 actinometry experiments allow us to estimate the quantum yield (QY) values QY122 = 0.44 ± 0.16 and QY160 = 0.87 ± 0.30 for solid-phase O2 actinometry.