The Effect of an Antenna on the Breakdown Process in an HID Lamp

Antenna structures are not often used as a way to influence the breakdown process in gases. However, they do show great potential for lowering the ignition voltage of high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps. We used HID lamp burners filled with pure argon to test the effects that a simple active antenna can have on the breakdown process. We show the photographs of the process and explain why it is different from the case without antenna structures.