Plasmas for Lighting

In the plasma state of matter, electrons are constantly being stripped from some atoms, attached to others, and gaining and losing energy. This results in light being emitted from the plasma, and that is the property that makes plasmas useful for lighting.

Plasmas in lighting are created by using electricity to increase the energy of gases. In certain types of lighting, such as arc lamps and high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps, the plasma has a very high temperature and is known as a thermal plasma.

Plasmas that are not hot can also be created and these are known as cold atmospheric plasmas. Such plasmas are “cold” because their temperature is near room temperature. They are “atmospheric” because the pressure of the plasma is approximately the same as atmospheric pressure at sea level. This type of plasma is used in Microplasma Lighting.

A collision with a moving particle excites the atom This causes an electron to jump to a higher energy level The electron falls back to its original energy level, releasing the extra energy in the form of a light photon