Gas discharge lamp
Gas discharge lamps are used in a wide variety of applications and environments including direct illumination and display illumination. Gas discharge lamps comprise a light transmitting vessel enclosing a discharge chamber in a gastight manner, an ionizable filling and a pair of electrodes located opposite each other in the discharge chamber, each electrode being connected to an associated current conductor which extends from the discharge chamber through the lamp vessel to the exterior. The generation of light in a gas discharge lamp is based on the ionization, and the resulting electric discharge, of the atoms of the filling gas in the lamp when an electric current flows through the lamp. During operation, a voltage is applied across electrodes, and a gas discharge occurs between said electrodes causing a lamp current to flow between the electrodes. One of the electrodes supplies the electrons necessary for the discharge, which electrons are returned to the external current circuit again via the other electrode. The generation of electrons usually takes place through glow emission (hot electrodes), or alternatively through emission in a strong electric field or directly through ion bombardment (cold electrodes). One type of gas discharge lamp is the fluorescent tube lamp. These lamps are made by coating an inner surface of a glass tube with phosphor material, sealing a gas mixture (e.g., mercury vapor, neon, and argon) within the glass tube, and installing electrodes at the ends of the glass tube. The lamp is operated by applying sufficient electrical power to the electrodes (either AC or DC) to ionize the internal gas mixture of the lamp. Other types of gas discharge lamps (e.g., neon lamps or UV sterilizing lamps) do not have an inner coating of phosphor material, and the gas sealed within the tube is selected to provide the desired wavelengths of light. All gas discharge lamps, including fluorescent lamps, require a ballast to operate. A typical gas discharge light fixture includes a ballast and a gas discharge lamp. The ballast converts standard line voltage and frequency to a voltage and frequency suitable for the specific type of lamp. The gas discharge lamp converts electrical energy into visible light with high efficiency. The ballast provides a high initial voltage to initiate the discharge, then rapidly limits the lamp current to safely sustain the discharge. Ballasts are manufactured for three main classes of fluorescent lamp: preheat, rapid start and instant start. Gas discharge lamps, in particular fluorescent lamps, are used for illumination purposes in many ways. An example of display illumination is backlighting for liquid crystal or other pixelated transmissive displays. A liquid crystal display (LCD) backlight often includes one or more gas discharge lamps, which can be cold cathode fluorescent lamps, or hot cathode lamps.
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