Electronics of the fluorescent lamp

THE fluorescent lamp is one of the recent and rapidly growing additions to the field of electronic devices. In order to understand properly the characteristics of the fluorescent lamp, it is necessary just as with other electronic devices, to know something about the fundamental principles of operation. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the operating principles of this type of lamp, both as an electrical conductor and as a radiation generator. Following a brief outline of the properties of radiant energy as they concern lamp design, a description is given of the phenomena occurring in the separate regions of the lamp. The final section of the paper is concerned with the over-all characteristics of the lamp considered primarily as a circuit element.