GTLS (gaseous tritium light sources)
These light sources, sometimes referred to as trigalights or mb-microtec GTLS (gaseous tritium light sources) are independent of a battery or any other source of outside energy, never need recharging or servicing and do not require the push of a button. They are 100 times brighter than anything comparable and have a life span of more than twenty years.
Self-illuminationg light sources for EXIT signs in places like hotel corridors or on airplanes to lead people to safety in an emergency with a power failure, were some of the early and more traditional applications of this technology.
Innovative Swiss technology
Decades of research in the field of radio luminescence preceded the development and commercial use of GTLS in watches. GTLS are tiny glass vials hermetically sealed, coated on the inside with a phosphorescent material and filled with a minute amount of tritium gas. Electrons emitted from the gas excite the material to give offa permanent, cold light. Depending on the type of phosphorescent material used, GTLS can be made to give off light in different colours. Green is the preferred colour because the human eye perceives it to be the brightest. Orange is also available and only slightly less bright. Blue is option as well but primarily used in watches for divers because underwater, blue remains visible at up to 60m/187 feet in depth, longer or deeper than any other colour. The serial production of these GTLS requires precision technology. Individual GTLS are laser cut and sealed airtight, so no gas ever escapes.
Unmatched in either size (small) or quality (brightness and lifespan) mb-microtec’s light sources are state of the art and without equal in the marketplace.
The science behind the technology
Mention radioactivity and the image of men in orange radiation protection suits holding geiger counters may come to mind. However, many industries are making good use of radioactivity and are in the process, saving lives in the medical arena and / or manufacturing products containing the GTLS illumination technology, powered by the decay of tritium.