The Polilight is a portable, high-intensity, filtered

light source Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

used by

forensic scientist Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

s and others to detect

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...

bodily fluids Body fluids, bodily fluids, or biofluids, sometimes body liquids, are liquids within the body of an organism. In lean healthy adult men, the total body water is about 60% (60–67%) of the total body weight; it is usually slightly lower in women ...

and other

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...

from

crime scene A crime scene is any location that may be associated with a committed crime. Crime scenes contain physical evidence that is pertinent to a criminal investigation. This evidence is collected by crime scene investigators (CSI) and law enforcement. ...

s and other places. Similar products to the Polilight Hola include the Foster + Freeman Crime-lite, Ultralite ALS and the Optimax Multilite, all of which use

light-emitting diode A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corre ...

s to produce high-intensity light of varying wavelengths.

History

The device was invented by Pierre Margot, Ron Warrener, Hilton Kobus, Milutin Stoilovic and Chris Lennard. It was developed from a research project to find an alternative to the

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

method of fingerprint detection used in the 1970s. In the 1980s, the project began at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

. It was funded by the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...

. The university's commercial company, Anutech Pty Ltd, sold the concept to Rofin Australia Pty Ltd, who developed it into the Polilight. Several Polilight models have been released, including the Polilight 6/150W, Polilight 10/300W and the Polilight500, sometimes abbreviated to PL6, PL10 and PL500. The PL500 ('500' refers to the power in

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s of the

xenon Xenon is a chemical element; it has symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

arc lamp) has eleven monochromatic bands, a ‘blank’ position that provides high intensity white light in the range from 380 to 650 nm and an optional infra-red output suitable for document examination. The Polilight was named by the Powerhouse Museum as one of the top 100 Australian innovations of the 20th century.Polilight forensic lamp
Powerhouse Museum. Its worldwide use was acknowledged by the Australian Export Awards in 2005.2005 Australian Export Awards, DSB December 2005.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Types of lamp Forensic equipment