Sparks in a Xeneco

Driving a Philips Xeneco automotive lamp with a pulse generator can provide some small but spectacular fireworks. This particular lamp does not contain mercury and is filled with xenon at 16 bar (cold), resulting in bright contracted filamentary discharges. The peak power dissipated in the lamp ranges from 160 to 736 kW with a mean value of 413 kW. However, because of the exceedingly short duration of the power pulses (about 25 ns) and the limited repetition rate (1000 pps), the average power dissipation is about 6 W. Note that the Xeneco has a 4.2-mm electrode gap length. The bluish glow around the burner comes from the fluorescence of the UV-stop outer jacket made of cerium-doped fused silica.