Experimental half-coated fluorescent tube

The lamp shown here is an experimental discharge tube filled with the argon-mercury mix found in standard fluorescent tubes and half-coated with a mix of red-emitting yttrium oxide (YOX) phosphor and green-emitting cerium magnesium aluminate (CAT) phosphor, normally used in 2700 K fluorescent lamps. Other components, such as the T4 soda-lime silicate glass and the electrode assemblies, are also taken from standard compact fluorescent lamp production. This particular tube was designed for plasma studies, more specifically, to investigate the impact of the fluorescence coating on plasma ignition processes. Here the lamp is shown in operation at around 0.17 A on an HF 13 W fluorescent tube driver. The picture below shows how much brighter the inner part of the fluorescent coated section of the lamp is.