• The Potential
• States of Matter
• What is Plasma?
• Plasmas for Lighting
• Limitations of Conventional Plasmas
• The Microplasma Advantage
• High Utilization Efficiency
• Microplasma Lighting: How it Works
• Microplasma Lighting: Features and Benefits

Limitations of Conventional Plasmas

Conventional macroscale plasmas, such as arc lamps, high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps and fluorescent lamps, are energy efficient and cost effective, but they also have some of the following limitations:

• Electrodes must be far apart for high efficiency
• Pressure inside the device must be low if electrodes are far apart
• Lamps with low pressure inside, such as fluorescent, are fragile (vacuum)
• Use Mercury because Mercury is necessary for high efficiency
• Lifetime limited relative to new technologies
• Available only as tubes or bulbs (poor utilization of light produced)
• Requires bulky fixtures to direct the light, reducing overall efficiency
• Multiple lamps are often necessary in each fixture
• Usually emits heat, or heating is required for proper operation