A study of electrode temperature lowering in Dy-containing ceramic metal halide lamps: I. The effect of mixtures of Dy, Tl and Na compared with pure Dy

The reduction in the electrode temperature by the gas phase emitter effect of dysprosium in ceramic metal halide lamps is investigated within special research lamps in dependence on the operating frequency of switched-dc lamp currents. The lamp tubes are made of transparent YAG material. They are filled with a fixed amount of Hg, which produces a buffer gas during lamp operation at a pressure of 2 MPa, with different amounts of DyI3 and in part with different amounts of NaI plus TlI. The Dy atomic ground state density is measured phase resolved both in the middle of the discharge and in front of the upper electrode by broad band absorption spectroscopy. The Dy ion density in front of the electrode is evaluated from line intensities being measured in absolute units by emission spectroscopy. The electrode tip temperature is determined by a 1λ - 2D pyrometric measuring method. It is found that a high Dy ion density in front of the electrode is correlated with a strong reduction in the electrode tip temperature relating to a pure mercury lamp. At low operating frequencies (f ⩽ 100 Hz) the Dy ion density and the temperature reduction is high within the cathodic phase and low within the anodic phase, at higher operating frequencies an increased Dy ion density and a reduction in the electrode tip temperature overlaps onto the anodic phase. The Dy ion density is reduced and with it the tip temperature drop by an addition of Na and Tl vapour to the lamp plasma. The effect of Tl and Na is investigated in more detail in a successive paper. (paper)