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Fluorescent lamp

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Fluorescent lamps

Top, two compact fluorescent lamps. Bottom, two fluorescent tube lamps. A matchstick, left, is shown forscale.

Compact fluorescent lampwithelectronic ballast

Typical F71T12 100 W bi-pin lamp used in tanning beds. The (Hg) symbol indicates that this lamp contains

mercury.In the US, this symbol is now required on all fluorescent lamps that contain mercury.[1]
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One style of lamp holder for T12 and T8 bi pin fluorescent lamps

Inside the lamp end of a preheat bi-pin lamp. In this lamp the filament is surrounded by an oblong metalcathode shield, which helps reduce lamp end darkening.[2]

A fluorescent lampor a fluorescent tubeis a low pressuremercury-vaporgas-discharge lampthat usesfluorescenceto produce visible light. Anelectric currentin the gasexcitesmercuryvapor which producesshort-waveultravioletlight that then causes aphosphorcoating on the inside of the bulb to glow. A fluorescentlamp converts electrical energy into useful light much more efficiently thanincandescent lamps.Theluminousefficacyof a fluorescent light bulb can exceed 100 lumens per watt, several times the efficacy of anincandescent bulb with comparable light output.

Fluorescent lamp fixtures are more costly than incandescent lamps because they require aballastto regulate thecurrentthrough the lamp, but the lower energy cost typically offsets the higher initial cost.Compact fluorescentlampsare now available in the same popular sizes as incandescents and are used as anenergy-savingalternative

in homes.

Because they contain mercury, many fluorescent lamps are classified ashazardous waste.TheUnited StatesEnvironmental Protection Agencyrecommends that fluorescent lamps be segregated from general waste forrecyclingor safe disposal.[3]

Contents

1 Historyo 1.1 Physical discoveries

o

1.2 Early discharge lampso 1.3 Neon lampso 1.4 Commercialization of fluorescent lamps

2 Principles of operationo 2.1 Constructiono 2.2 Electrical aspects of operation
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scent_lamphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_currenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_ballasthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_efficacyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_efficacyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_efficacyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescent_light_bulbhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_%28element%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_statehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_current#Gases_and_plasmashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas-discharge_lamphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-vapor_lamphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp#cite_note-2


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o 2.3 Effect of temperatureo 2.4 Losseso 2.5 Cold cathode lampso 2.6 Starting

2.6.1 Preheating

2.6.2 Instant start 2.6.3 Rapid start

2.6.4 Quick-start

2.6.5 Semi-resonant start 2.6.6 Programmed start 2.6.7 Electronic ballasts

o

2.7 End of life 2.7.1 Emission mix

2.7.2 Ballast electronics 2.7.3 Phosphor

2.7.4 Loss of mercury 2.7.5 Burned filaments

3 Phosphors and the spectrum of emitted light o 3.1 Color temperature

o

3.2 Color rendering indexo 3.3 Phosphor composition

4 Applications 5 Advantages

o 5.1 Luminous efficacyo 5.2 Lifeo 5.3 Lower luminanceo 5.4 Lower heat

6 Disadvantageso 6.1 Frequent switchingo 6.2 Health and safety issueso

6.3 Ultraviolet emissiono 6.4 Ballasto 6.5 Power quality and radio interferenceo 6.6 Operating temperatureo 6.7 Lamp shapeo 6.8 Flicker problemso 6.9 Dimmingo 6.10 Disposal and recycling

7 Lamp sizes and designations 8 Other fluorescent lamps

9 Science demonstrations 10 See also

11 References 12 Further reading

13 External links

History

This section needs additional citations forverification.Please helpimprove this articlebyaddingcitations to reliable sources.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010)

Physical discoveries

Fluorescence of certain rocks and other substances had been observed for hundreds of years before its naturewas understood. By the middle of the 19th century, experimenters had observed a radiant glow emanating from
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partially evacuated glass vessels through which anelectric currentpassed. One of the first to explain it was theIrish scientistSir George Stokesfrom theUniversity of Cambridge,who named the phenomenon"fluorescence" afterfluorite,a mineral many of whose samples glow strongly due to impurities. Theexplanation relied on the nature of electricity and light phenomena as developed by the British scientistsMichael Faradayin the 1840s andJames Clerk Maxwellin the 1860s.[4]

Little more was done with this phenomenon until 1856 when a German glassblower namedHeinrich Geisslercreated amercury vacuum pumpthat evacuated a glass tube to an extent not previously possible. When an

electrical current passed through aGeissler tube,a strong green glow on the walls of the tube at the cathode endcould be observed. Because it produced some beautiful light effects, the Geissler tube was a popular source ofamusement. More important, however, was its contribution to scientific research. One of the first scientists toexperiment with a Geissler tube wasJulius Plckerwho systematically described in 1858 the luminescenteffects that occurred in a Geissler tube. He also made the important observation that the glow in the tube shifted

position when in proximity to anelectromagnetic field.Alexandre Edmond Becquerelobserved in 1859 thatcertain substances gave off light when they were placed in a Geissler tube. He went on to apply thin coatings ofluminescent materials to the surfaces of these tubes. Fluorescence occurred, but the tubes were very inefficientand had a short operating life.

Inquiries that began with the Geissler tube continued as even better vacuums were produced. The most famous

was the evacuated tube used for scientific research byWilliam Crookes.That tube was evacuated by the highlyeffective mercuryvacuum pumpcreated byHermann Sprengel.Research conducted by Crookes and othersultimately led to the discovery of theelectronin 1897 byJ. J. ThomsonandX-raysin 1895 byWilhelmRoentgen.But theCrookes tube,as it came to be known, produced little light because the vacuum in it was toogood and thus lacked the trace amounts of gas that are needed for electrically stimulatedluminescence.

Early discharge lamps

One of the firstmercury vapor lampsinvented by Peter Cooper Hewitt, 1903. It was similar to a fluorescentlamp without the fluorescent coating on the tube, and produced greenish light. The round device under the lampis theballast.

While Becquerel was interested primarily in conducting scientific research into fluorescence, Thomas Edisonbriefly pursued fluorescent lighting for its commercial potential. He invented a fluorescent lamp in 1896 thatused a coating ofcalciumtungstate as the fluorescing substance, excited byX-rays,but although it received a

patent in 1907,[5]it was not put into production. As with a few other attempts to use Geissler tubes forillumination, it had a short operating life, and given the success of the incandescent light, Edison had littlereason to pursue an alternative means of electrical illumination.Nikola Teslamade similar experiments in the
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1890s, devising high frequency powered fluorescent bulbs that gave a bright greenish light, but as with Edison'sdevices, no commercial success was achieved.

Although Edison lost interest in fluorescent lighting, one of his former employees was able to create a gas-based lamp that achieved a measure of commercial success. In 1895Daniel McFarlan Mooredemonstratedlamps 2 to 3 meters (6.6 to 9.8 ft) in length that usedcarbon dioxideornitrogento emit white or pink light,respectively. As with future fluorescent lamps, they were considerably more complicated than an incandescent

bulb.[6]

Peter Cooper Hewitt

After years of work, Moore was able to extend the operating life of the lamps by inventing anelectromagnetically controlled valve that maintained a constant gas pressure within the tube. [7]AlthoughMoores lamp was complicated, was expensive to install, and required very high voltages, it was considerably

more efficient than incandescent lamps, and it produced a more natural light than incandescent lamps. From1904 onwards Moores lighting system was installed in a number of stores and offices.[8]Its success contributedtoGeneral Electrics motivation to improve the incandescent lamp, especially its filament. GEs efforts came tofruition with the invention of atungsten-based filament. The extended lifespan of incandescent bulbs negated

one of the key advantages of Moores lamp, but GE purchased the relevant patents in 1912. These patents andthe inventive efforts that supported them were to be of considerable value when the firm took up fluorescentlighting more than two decades later.

At about the same time that Moore was developing his lighting system, another American was creating a meansof illumination that also can be seen as a precursor to the modern fluorescent lamp. This was the mercury-vaporlamp,invented byPeter Cooper Hewittand patented in 1901 (US 682692;this patent number is frequentlymisquoted as US 889,692). Hewitts lamp glowed when an electric current was passed through mercury vaporat a low pressure. Unlike Moores lamps, Hewitt's were manufactured in standardized sizes and operated at low

voltages.The mercury-vapor lamp was superior to the incandescent lamps of the time in terms of energyefficiency, but the blue-green light it produced limited its applications. It was, however, used for photography

and some industrial processes.

Mercury vapor lamps continued to be developed at a slow pace, especially in Europe, and by the early 1930sthey received limited use for large-scale illumination. Some of them employed fluorescent coatings, but thesewere used primarily for color correction and not for enhanced light output. Mercury vapor lamps alsoanticipated the fluorescent lamp in their incorporation of a ballast to maintain a constant current.

Cooper-Hewitt had not been the first to use mercury vapor for illumination, as earlier efforts had been mountedby Way, Rapieff, Arons, and Bastian and Salisbury. Of particular importance was the mercury vapor lampinvented by Kch inGermany.This lamp used quartz in place of glass to allow higheroperating temperatures,and hence greater efficiency. Although its light output relative to electrical consumption was better than that ofother sources of light, the light it produced was similar to that of the Cooper-Hewitt lamp in that it lacked thered portion of the spectrum, making it unsuitable for ordinary lighting.

Neon lamps
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Main article:Neon lighting

The next step in gas-based lighting took advantage of the luminescent qualities ofneon,an inert gas that hadbeen discovered in 1898 by isolation from the atmosphere. Neon glowed a brilliant red when used in Geisslertubes.[9]By 1910,Georges Claude,a Frenchman who had developed a technology and a successful business forair liquefaction, was obtaining enough neon as a byproduct to support a neon lighting industry.[10][11]Whileneon lighting was used around 1930 in France for general illumination, it was no more energy-efficient thanconventional incandescent lighting. Neon tube lighting, which also includes the use of argon and mercury vapor

as alternate gases, came to be used primarily for eye-catching signs and advertisements. Neon lighting wasrelevant to the development of fluorescent lighting, however, as Claudes improved electrode (patented in

1915) overcame "sputtering", a major source of electrode degradation. Sputtering occurred when ionizedparticles struck an electrode and tore off bits of metal. Although Claudes invention requiredelectrodeswith alot of surface area, it showed that a major impediment to gas-based lighting could be overcome.

The development of the neon light also was significant for the last key element of the fluorescent lamp, itsfluorescent coating. In 1926 Jacques Risler received a French patent for the application of fluorescent coatingsto neon light tubes.[8]The main use of these lamps, which can be considered the first commercially successfulfluorescents, was for advertising, not general illumination. This, however, was not the first use of fluorescentcoatings; Edison used calcium tungstate for his unsuccessful lamp. Other efforts had been mounted, but all were

plagued by low efficiency and various technical problems. Of particular importance was the invention in 1927of a low-voltage metal vapor lamp by Friedrich Meyer, Hans-Joachim Spanner, andEdmund Germer,whowere employees of a German firm inBerlin.A German patent was granted but the lamp never went intocommercial production.

Commercialization of fluorescent lamps

All the major features of fluorescent lighting were in place at the end of the 1920s. Decades of invention anddevelopment had provided the key components of fluorescent lamps: economically manufactured glass tubing,inert gases for filling the tubes, electrical ballasts, long-lasting electrodes, mercury vapor as a source ofluminescence, effective means of producing a reliable electrical discharge, and fluorescent coatings that could

be energized by ultraviolet light. At this point, intensive development was more important than basic research.

In 1934,Arthur Compton,a renowned physicist and GE consultant, reported to the GE lamp department onsuccessful experiments with fluorescent lighting atGeneral Electric Co., Ltd.in Great Britain (unrelated toGeneral Electric in the United States). Stimulated by this report, and with all of the key elements available, ateam led by George E. Inman built a prototype fluorescent lamp in 1934 at General ElectricsNela Park(Ohio)engineering laboratory. This was not a trivial exercise; as noted by Arthur A. Bright, "A great deal ofexperimentation had to be done on lamp sizes and shapes, cathode construction, gas pressures of both argon andmercury vapor, colors of fluorescent powders, methods of attaching them to the inside of the tube, and otherdetails of the lamp and its auxiliaries before the new device was ready for the public." [8]

In addition to having engineers and technicians along with facilities for R&D work on fluorescent lamps,General Electric controlled what it regarded as the key patents covering fluorescent lighting, including the

patents originally issued to Hewitt, Moore, and Kch. More important than these was a patent covering anelectrodethat did not disintegrate at the gas pressures that ultimately were employed in fluorescent lamps.Albert W. Hull of GEs Schenectady Research Laboratory filed for a patent on this invention in 1927, whichwas issued in 1931.[12]General Electric used its control of the patents to prevent competition with itsincandescent lights and probably delayed the introduction of fluorescent lighting by 20 years. Eventually, war

production required 24 hour factories with economical lighting and fluorescent lights became available.

While the Hull patent gave GE a basis for claiminglegalrights over the fluorescent lamp, a few months after

the lamp went into production the firm learned of a U.S. patent application that had been filed in 1927 for theaforementioned "metal vapor lamp" invented in Germany by Meyer, Spanner, and Germer. The patentapplication indicated that the lamp had been created as a superior means of producing ultraviolet light, but theapplication also contained a few statements referring to fluorescent illumination. Efforts to obtain a U.S. patenthad met with numerous delays, but were it to be granted, the patent might have caused serious difficulties for
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GE. At first, GE sought to block the issuance of a patent by claiming that priority should go to one of theiremployees, Leroy J. Buttolph, who according to their claim had invented a fluorescent lamp in 1919 and whose

patent application was still pending. GE also had filed a patent application in 1936 in Inmans name to coverthe improvements wrought by his group. In 1939 GE decided that the claim of Meyer, Spanner, and Germer

had some merit, and that in any event a long interference procedure was not in their best interest. Theytherefore dropped the Buttolph claim and paid $180,000 to acquire the Meyer, et al. application, which at that

point was owned by a firm known as Electrons, Inc. The patent was duly awarded in December 1939.[13]Thispatent, along with the Hull patent, put GE on what seemed to be firm legal ground, although it faced years of

legal challenges fromSylvania Electric Products,Inc., which claimedinfringementon patents that it held.

Even though the patent issue would not be completely resolved for many years, General Electrics strength inmanufacturing and marketing the bulb gave it a pre-eminent position in the emerging fluorescent light market.Sales of "fluorescent lumiline lamps" commenced in 1938 when four different sizes of tubes were put on themarket used in fixtures manufactured by three leading corporations,Lightolier,Artcraft Fluorescent LightingCorporation,and Globe Lighting, two based in New York City. During the following year GE andWestinghousepublicized the new lights through exhibitions at theNew York Worlds Fairand theGolden GateInternational Expositionin San Francisco. Fluorescent lighting systems spread rapidly during World War II aswartime manufacturing intensified lighting demand. By 1951 more light was produced in the United States byfluorescent lamps than by incandescent lamps.[14]

In the first yearszinc orthosilicatewith varying content ofberylliumwas used as greenish phosphor. Smalladditions of magnesium tungstate improved the blue part of the spectrum yielding acceptable white. After itwas discovered thatberyllium was toxic,halophosphate based phosphors took over.[15]

Principles of operation

The fundamental means for conversion of electrical energy into radiant energy in a fluorescent lamp relies oninelastic scatteringof electrons when an incident electron collides with an atom in the gas. If the (incident) freeelectron has enoughkinetic energy,it transfers energy to the atom's outer electron, causing that electron to

temporarily jump up to a higherenergy level.The collision is 'inelastic' because a loss of kinetic energy occurs.

This higher energy state is unstable, and the atom will emit an ultraviolet photonas the atom's electron revertsto a lower, more stable, energy level. Most of the photons that are released from the mercury atoms havewavelengthsin theultraviolet(UV) region of the spectrum, predominantly at wavelengths of 253.7 and 185nanometers(nm). These are not visible to the human eye, so they must be converted into visible light. This isdone by making use offluorescence.Ultraviolet photons are absorbed by electrons in the atoms of the lamp'sinterior fluorescent coating, causing a similar energy jump, then drop, with emission of a further photon. The

photon that is emitted from this second interaction has a lower energy than the one that caused it. The chemicalsthat make up the phosphor are chosen so that these emitted photons are at wavelengths visible to the humaneye. The difference in energy between the absorbed ultra-violet photon and the emitted visible light photon

goes toward heating up the phosphor coating.

When the light is turned on, the electric power heats up the cathode enough for it to emit electrons (thermionicemission). These electrons collide with and ionizenoble gasatoms inside the bulb surrounding the filament toform aplasmaby the process ofimpact ionization.As a result ofavalanche ionization,the conductivity of theionized gas rapidly rises, allowing higher currents to flow through the lamp.

The fill gas helps determine the operating electrical characteristics of the lamp, but does not give off light itself.The fill gas effectively increases the distance that electrons travel through the tube, which allows an electron agreater chance of interacting with a mercury atom. Argon atoms, excited to a metastable state by impact of anelectron, can impart this energy to a neutral mercury atom and ionize it, described as the Penning effect.This

has the benefit of lowering the breakdown and operating voltage of the lamp, compared to other possible fillgases such as krypton.[16]

Construction
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inc_orthosilicatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp#cite_note-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_International_Expositionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_International_Expositionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_International_Expositionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_New_York_World%27s_Fairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Electric_Corporation_%281886%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artcraft_Fluorescent_Lighting_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artcraft_Fluorescent_Lighting_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightolierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_infringementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvania_Electric_Productshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp#cite_note-13


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Close-up of the cathodes of agermicidal lamp(an essentially similar design that uses no fluorescent phosphor,allowing the electrodes to be seen.)

A fluorescent lamp tube is filled with a gas containing low pressure mercury vapor andargon,xenon,neon,orkrypton.The pressure inside the lamp is around 0.3% of atmospheric pressure.[17]The inner surface of the lampis coated with afluorescent(and often slightlyphosphorescent)coating made of varying blends of metallic andrare-earthphosphorsalts. The lamp's electrodes are typically made of coiledtungstenand usually referred to as

cathodes because of their prime function of emitting electrons. For this, they are coated with a mixture ofbarium, strontium and calcium oxides chosen to have a lowthermionic emissiontemperature.

The unfiltered ultraviolet glow of agermicidal lampis produced by a low pressure mercury vapor discharge(identical to that in a fluorescent lamp) in an uncoated fused quartz envelope.

Fluorescent lamp tubes are typically straight and range in length from about 100 millimeters (3.9 in) forminiature lamps, to 2.43 meters (8.0 ft) for high-output lamps. Some lamps have the tube bent into a circle,used for table lamps or other places where a more compact light source is desired. Larger U-shaped lamps areused to provide the same amount of light in a more compact area, and are used for special architectural

purposes.Compact fluorescent lampshave several small-diameter tubes joined in a bundle of two, four, or six,or a small diameter tube coiled into a helix, to provide a high amount of light output in little volume.

Light-emitting phosphors are applied as a paint-like coating to the inside of the tube. The organic solvents are

allowed to evaporate, then the tube is heated to nearly the melting point of glass to drive off remaining organiccompounds and fuse the coating to the lamp tube. Careful control of the grain size of the suspended phosphorsis necessary; large grains, 35 micrometers or larger, lead to weak grainy coatings, whereas too many small

particles 1 or 2 micrometers or smaller leads to poor light maintenance and efficiency. Most phosphors performbest with a particle size around 10 micrometers. The coating must be thick enough to capture all the ultraviolet
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light produced by the mercury arc, but not so thick that the phosphor coating absorbs too much visible light.The first phosphors were synthetic versions of naturally occurring fluorescent minerals, with small amounts ofmetals added as activators. Later other compounds were discovered, allowing differing colors of lamps to bemade.[18]

Electrical aspects of operation

Different ballasts for fluorescent and discharge lamps

Fluorescent lamps arenegative differential resistancedevices, so as more current flows through them, the

electrical resistance of the fluorescent lamp drops, allowing for even more current to flow. Connected directlyto aconstant-voltage power supply,a fluorescent lamp would rapidly self-destruct due to the uncontrolledcurrent flow. To prevent this, fluorescent lamps must use an auxiliary device, aballast,to regulate the currentflow through the lamp.

The terminal voltage across an operating lamp varies depending on thearccurrent, tube diameter, temperature,and fill gas. A fixed part of the voltage drop is due to the electrodes. A general lighting service 48-inch(1,219 mm) T12[19]lamp operates at 430 mA, with 100 volts drop. High output lamps operate at 800 mA, andsome types operate up to 1.5 A. The power level varies from 33 to 82 watts per meter of tube length (10 to 25W/ft) for T12 lamps.[20]

The simplest ballast foralternating current(AC) use is aninductorplaced in series, consisting of a winding on alaminated magnetic core. Theinductanceof this winding limits the flow of AC current. This type is still used,for example, in 120 volt operated desk lamps using relatively short lamps. Ballasts are rated for the size of lampand power frequency. Where the AC voltage is insufficient to start long fluorescent lamps, the ballast is often astep-upautotransformerwith substantialleakage inductance(so as to limit the current flow). Either form ofinductive ballast may also include acapacitorforpower factorcorrection.

230 V ballast for 1820 W

Many different circuits have been used to operate fluorescent lamps. The choice of circuit is based on ACvoltage, tube length, initial cost, long term cost, instant versus non-instant starting, temperature ranges and partsavailability, etc.

Fluorescent lamps can run directly from adirect current(DC) supply of sufficient voltage to strike an arc. Theballast must be resistive, and would consume about as much power as the lamp. When operated from DC, thestarting switch is often arranged to reverse the polarity of the supply to the lamp each time it is started;otherwise, the mercury accumulates at one end of the tube. Fluorescent lamps are (almost) never operated
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directly from DC for those reasons. Instead, aninverterconverts the DC into AC and provides the current-limiting function as described below for electronic ballasts.

Effect of temperature

Thermal image of a helical fluorescent lamp.

The light output and performance of fluorescent lamps is critically affected by the temperature of the bulb walland its effect on the partial pressure of mercury vapor within the lamp.[18]Each lamp contains a small amount ofmercury, which must vaporize to support the lamp current and generate light. At low temperatures the mercuryis in the form of dispersed liquid droplets. As the lamp warms, more of the mercury is in vapor form. At highertemperatures, self-absorption in the vapor reduces the yield of UV and visible light. Since mercury condenses atthe coolest spot in the lamp, careful design is required to maintain that spot at the optimum temperature, around40 C (104 F).

By using anamalgamwith some other metal, the vapor pressure is reduced and the optimum temperature rangeextended upward; however, the bulb wall "cold spot" temperature must still be controlled to prevent migrationof the mercury out of the amalgam and condensing on the cold spot. Fluorescent lamps intended for higheroutput will have structural features such as a deformed tube or internal heat-sinks to control cold spot

temperature and mercury distribution. Heavily loaded small lamps, such as compact fluorescent lamps, alsoinclude heat-sink areas in the tube to maintain mercury vapor pressure at the optimum value.[18]

Losses

ASankey diagramof energy losses in a fluorescent lamp. In modern designs, the biggest loss is the quantumefficiency of converting high-energy UV photons to lower-energy visible light photons.

Only a fraction of the electrical energy input into a lamp is converted to useful light. The ballast dissipates someheat; electronic ballasts may be around 90% efficient. A fixed voltage drop occurs at the electrodes, which also

produces heat. Some of the energy in the mercury vapor column is also dissipated, but about 85% is turned intovisible and ultraviolet light.

The UV light isabsorbedby the lamp'sfluorescentcoating, which re-radiates the energy at longer wavelengthsto emitvisible light.Not all the UV energy striking the phosphor gets converted into visible light. In a modernlamp, for every 100 incident photons of UV impacting the phosphor, only 86 visible light photons are emitted(a quantum efficiency of 86%). The largest single loss in modern lamps is due to the lower energy of each
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photon of visible light, compared to the energy of the UV photons that generated them (a phenomenon calledStokes shift). Incident photons have an energy of 5.5 electron volts but produce visible light photons withenergy around 2.5 electron volts, so only 45% of the UV energy is used; the rest is dissipated as heat. If a so-called "two-photon" phosphor could be developed, this would improve the efficiency but much research has notyet found such a system.[18]

Cold cathode lamps

Most fluorescent lamps use electrodes that operate bythermionic emission,meaning they are operated at a highenough temperature for the electrode material (usually aided by a special coating) to emit electrons into the tube

by heat.

However, there are also tubes that operate incold cathodemode, whereby electrons are liberated into the tubeonly by the large potential difference (voltage)between the electrodes. This does not mean the electrodes arecold (indeed, they can be very hot), but it does mean they are operating below their thermionic emissiontemperature. Because cold cathode lamps have no thermionic emission coating to wear out they can have muchlonger lives thanhot cathodetubes. This quality makes them desirable for maintenance-free long-lifeapplications (such as backlights inliquid crystal displays). Sputtering of the electrode may still occur, butelectrodes can be shaped (e.g. into an internal cylinder) to capture most of the sputtered material so it is not lost

from the electrode.

Cold cathode lamps are generally less efficient than thermionic emission lamps because the cathode fall voltageis much higher. The increased fall voltage results in more power dissipation at tube ends, which does notcontribute to light output. However, this is less significant with longer tubes. The increased power dissipation attube ends also usually means cold cathode tubes have to be run at a lower loading than their thermionicemission equivalents. Given the higher tube voltage required anyway, these tubes can easily be made long, andeven run as series strings. They are better suited for bending into special shapes for lettering and signage, andcan also be instantly switched on or off.

Starting

The mercury atoms in the fluorescent tube must be ionized before the arc can "strike" within the tube. For smalllamps, it does not take much voltage to strike the arc and starting the lamp presents no problem, but larger tubesrequire a substantial voltage (in the range of a thousand volts).

Apreheatfluorescent lamp circuit using an automatic starting switch. A: Fluorescent tube, B: Power (+220volts), C: Starter, D: Switch (bi-metallic thermostat), E: Capacitor, F: Filaments, G: Ballast

Play mediaStarting a preheat lamp. The automatic starter switch flashes orange each time it attempts to start the lamp.

Preheating
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This technique uses a combinationfilamentcathodeat each end of the lamp in conjunction with a mechanicalor automatic (bi-metallic) switch (see circuit diagram to the right) that initially connect the filaments in serieswith the ballast to preheat them; when the arc is struck the filaments are disconnected. This system is describedaspreheatin some countries andswitchstartin others.[21]These systems are standard equipment in 200240 Vcountries (and for 100120 V lamps up to about 30 watts).

Apreheatfluorescent lamp "starter" (automatic starting switch)

Before the 1960s four-pin thermal starters and manual switches were used. [citation needed]A method widely usedfor preheating from then, and still in common use, is a glow starter(illustrated). It consists of a normally open

bi-metallicswitchin a small sealed inert gas (neon or argon)gas-discharge lamp.

Electronic fluorescent lamp starters

When power is first applied to the circuit, there will be aglow dischargeacross the electrodes in the starterlamp. This heats the gas in the starter and causes one of the bi-metallic contacts to bend towards the other.When the contacts touch, the two filaments of the fluorescent lamp and the ballast will effectively be switchedin series to the supply voltage. The current through the filaments causes them to heat up and emit electrons intothe tube gas bythermionic emission.In the starter, the touching contactsshort outthe voltage sustaining theglow discharge, extinguishing it so the gas cools down and no longer heats the bi-metallic switch, which openswithin a second or two. The current through the filaments and the inductive ballast is abruptly interrupted,leaving the full line voltage applied between the filaments at the ends of the tube and generating aninductivekickwhich provides the high voltage needed to start the lamp. The lamp will fail to strike if the filaments arenot hot enough, in which case the cycle repeats; several cycles are usually needed, which causes flickering andclicking during starting (older thermal starters behaved better in this respect). Apower factorcorrection (PFC)capacitordraws leading current from the mains to compensate for the lagging current drawn by the lampcircuit.[21]

Once the tube strikes, the impinging main discharge keeps the cathodes hot, permitting continued electronemission without the need for the filaments to continue to be heated. The starter switch does not close again

because the voltage across the lit tube is insufficient to start a glow discharge in the starter.[21]

With automated starters such as glow starters, a failing tube will cycle endlessly, flickering as the lamp quickly

goes out because theemission mixis insufficient to keep the lamp current high enough to keep the glow starteropen. This runs the ballast at higher temperature. Some more advanced starters time out in this situation, and donot attempt repeated starts until power is reset. [citation needed]Some older systems used a thermal over-current tripto detect repeated starting attempts and disable the circuit until manually reset. The switch contacts in glow
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starters are subject to wear and inevitably fail eventually, so the starter is manufactured as a plug-in replaceableunit.

More recently introduced electronic starters use a different method to preheat the cathodes.[22]They may bedesigned to be plug-in interchangeable with glow starters for use in standard fittings. They commonly use a

purpose-designed semiconductor switch and "soft start" the lamp by preheating the cathodes before applying acontrolled starting pulse which strikes the lamp first time without flickering; this dislodges a minimal amount ofmaterial from the cathodes during starting, giving longer lamp life than possible with the uncontrolled impulses

to which the lamp is subjected in a switchstart.[21]

This is claimed to prolong lamp life by a factor of typically 3to 4 times for a lamp frequently switched on as in domestic use ,[23]and to reduce the blackening of the ends ofthe lamp typical of fluorescent tubes. The circuit is typically complex, but the complexity is built into the IC.Electronic starters may be optimized for fast starting (typical start time of 0.3 seconds), [23][24]or for mostreliable starting even at low temperatures and with low supply voltages, with a startup time of 24 seconds.[25]The faster-start units may produce audible noise during start-up.[26]

Electronic starters only attempt to start a lamp for a short time when power is initially applied, and do notrepeatedly attempt to restrike a lamp that is dead and unable to sustain an arc; some automatically shut down afailed lamp.[22]This eliminates the re-striking of a lamp and the continuous flickering of a failing lamp with aglow starter. Electronic starters are not subject to wear and do not need replacing periodically, although they

may fail like any other electronic circuit. Manufacturers typically quote lives of 20 years, or as long as the lightfitting.[24][25]Starters are inexpensive, typically less than 50US centsfor the short-lived glow type (dependingupon lamp power), and perhaps ten times more for the electronic type as of 2013.

Instant start

Another type of tube does not have filaments to start it at all. Instant startfluorescent tubes simply use a highenough voltage to break down the gas and mercury column and thereby start arc conduction. These tubes can beidentified by a single pin at each end of the tube. The lamp holders have a "disconnect" socket at the low-voltage end which disconnects the ballast when the tube is removed, to preventelectric shock.Low-costlighting fixtures with an integrated electronic ballast use instant start on lamps designed for preheating,

although it shortens lamp life.[citation needed]

Rapid start

Newer rapid startballast designs provide filament power windings within the ballast; these rapidly andcontinuously warm the filaments/cathodes using low-voltage AC. No inductivevoltage spikeis produced forstarting, so the lamps must be mounted near a grounded (earthed) reflector to allow the glow discharge to

propagate through the tube and initiate the arc discharge. In some lamps a grounded "starting aid" strip isattached to the outside of the lamp glass.

A rapid-start "iron" (magnetic) ballast continually heats the cathodes at the ends of the lamps. This ballast runstwo F40T12 lamps in series.

Quick-start

Quick-start ballasts use a small auto-transformer to heat the filaments when power is first applied. When an arcstrikes, the filament heating power is reduced and the tube will start within half a second. The auto-transformer
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is either combined with the ballast or may be a separate unit. Tubes need to be mounted near an earthed metalreflector in order for them to strike. Quick-start ballasts are more common in commercial installations becauseof lower maintenance costs. A quick-start ballast eliminates the need for a starter switch, a common source oflamp failures. Nonetheless, Quick-start ballasts are also used in domestic (residential) installations because ofthe desirable feature that a Quick-start ballast light turns on nearly immediately after power is applied (when aswitch is turned on). Quick-start ballasts are used only on 240 V circuits and are designed for use with theolder, less efficient T12 tubes.

Semi-resonant start

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A 65 watt fluorescent lamp starting on a semi-resonant start circuit

A semi-resonant start circuit diagram

The semi-resonant start circuit was invented by Thorn Lighting for use withT12fluorescent tubes. This methoduses a double wound transformer and a capacitor. With no arc current, the transformer and capacitorresonateatline frequency and generate about twice the supply voltage across the tube, and a small electrode heatingcurrent.[27]This tube voltage is too low to strike the arc with cold electrodes, but as the electrodes heat up tothermionic emission temperature, the tube striking voltage falls below that of the ringing voltage, and the arcstrikes. As the electrodes heat, the lamp slowly, over three to five seconds, reaches full brightness. As the arccurrent increases and tube voltage drops, the circuit provides current limiting.

Semi-resonant start circuits are mainly restricted to use in commercial installations because of the higher initialcost of circuit components. However, there are no starter switches to be replaced and cathode damage is

reduced during starting making lamps last longer, reducing maintenance costs. Due to the high open circuit tubevoltage, this starting method is particularly good for starting tubes in cold locations. Additionally, the circuitpower factor is almost 1.0, and no additional power factor correction is needed in the lighting installation. Asthe design requires that twice the supply voltage must be lower than the cold-cathode striking voltage (or thetubes would erroneously instant-start), this design cannot be used with 240 volt AC power unless the tubes areat least 1.5 meter length. Semi-resonant start fixtures are generally incompatible with energy saving T8 retrofittubes, because such tubes have a higher starting voltage than T12 lamps and may not start reliably, especially inlow temperatures. Recent proposals in some countries to phase out T12 tubes will reduce the application of thisstarting method.

Programmed start

This is used with electronic ballasts shown below. A programmed-start ballast is a more advanced version ofrapid start. This ballast applies power to the filaments first, then after a short delay to allow the cathodes to

preheat, applies voltage to the lamps to strike an arc. T

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