Microwave discharge characteristics of plasma lighting system

This paper deals with microwave discharge characteristics of plasma lighting system. The light sources comprises a bulb containing a plasma-forming medium. When the bulb is placed in a microwave energy field, the field ionizes buffer gas within the bulb. A low-pressure discharge forms within the bulb, heating the bulb wall, vaporizing materials such as sulphur within the bulb to generate light. The goal of the experiment is to find suitable lamp operating parameter and to achieve higher light conversion efficiency. Experimental study of microwave characteristics of initial buffer gas, plasma geometry, bulb rotation effect and emission spectrum features in the PLS are presented. Argon is usually used as the buffer gas. The minimum input power to ignite the argon gas increases according to initial gas pressure in the range of less than 150 Torr.