sara@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu (Sara Moss) (02/04/88)
Does anyone know what combination of gases would provide a good infrared light source in the range of 700 - 1100 nanometers? The intended use of the gas would be in a neon-type tube to provide a continuous, diffused light source. Alternatively, does anyone know of any continuous infrared light source that provides: diffused light, can be in a bendable, yet rigid form up to 5 feet long, does not get hot (~ 5 watts would be nice), no power cycling, and has a good long life span (like a few years). I know, that is probably asking alot. If any of those details do not make perfect sense, it is probably due to my bad interpretation of the requirements. I am looking for this information for a friend.
jbn@glacier.STANFORD.EDU (John B. Nagle) (02/05/88)
Mixing gases in "neon" tubes generally doesn't work. The one with the lowest breakdown voltage fires first and takes all the load. John Nagle
mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu (02/06/88)
>Does anyone know what combination of gases would provide a good >infrared light source in the range of 700 - 1100 nanometers? The >intend >ed use of the gas would be in a neon-type tube to provide a >continuous, diffused light source. Krypton, at moderate to high pressures. >Alternatively, does anyone know of any continuous infrared light >source that provides: diffused light, can be in a bendable, yet rigid >form up to 5 feet long, does not get hot (~ 5 watts would be nice), no >power cycling, and has a good long life span (like a few years). An ordinary fluorescent light with a special near IR phosphor would do fine. I have no idea whether such phosphors are commercially available. Alternatively, a 2500 Angstrom UV(blacklight) tube could be used to illuminate the appropriate phosphor externally. You could also use a huge array of standard near ir LED's. This is probably the easiest for 5 watts power input (not output).
dennisg@felix.UUCP (Dennis Griesser) (02/09/88)
In article <17298@glacier.STANFORD.EDU> jbn@glacier.UUCP (John B. Nagle) writes: > Mixing gases in "neon" tubes generally doesn't work. The one >with the lowest breakdown voltage fires first and takes all the load. Well, kinda. When I fiddle with my plasma sphere, I get two colors out of it. The main bolts are bluish. The surface of the inner electrode and the inside of the sphere where your hand makes contact is pink. I believe that there two gasses with different breakdown voltages. Different gasses glow in different areas due to differing charge densities at the electrodes and in space. Does anyone have a better theory?