Photonics Dictionary

A lamp that has mercury in a tube or bulb that has first been evacuated. The electricity travels through the vapor between the electrodes and produces a blue-green light that is rich in ultraviolet...

In present usage, especially for spectroscopic identification, an arc between electrodes that serves as a radiation source. Gas tubes that contain mercury vapor and mixtures of helium, neon and argon...

A mercury vapor discharge lamp that has cadmium added to emit radiation in the red region as a complement to the mercury vapor's blue and green radiation.

A tube containing mercury vapor and lined with a phosphor. When current is passed through the vapor the strong ultraviolet emission excites the phosphor, which emits visible light. The ultraviolet...

An infrared light source is a device that emits light in the infrared spectrum, which lies beyond the visible spectrum of light. Infrared light has longer wavelengths than visible light and is...

An electric arc that is formed in mercury vapor through which an electric current flows. The intensity of the illumination of the arc depends mostly on its design and the conditions under which it...

A light source, such as the sun or an incandescent lamp, that freely penetrates ordinary glass bulbs and emits in the near-ultraviolet (wavelengths ranging from about 300 to 400 nm). A mercury vapor...