Until recently, the challenge of using UV LEDs had been stabilizing the die at the wavelengths needed. Recent advancements have overcome the stabilization of the die, but challenges still remain in the packaging of the die in an effort to yield the same life hours as existing standard LED technology. Standard epoxy packages usually provide less than 5,000 life hours because the UV rays break the epoxy down rapidly. ‘Hardened’ or ‘UV resistant’ epoxy packages usually have less than 10,000 life hours, which is still not nearly enough for most applications and the epoxy break down is erratic, not graceful or linear.