Xenon arc lamp

A xenon arc lamp is a specialized type of gas discharge lamp, an electric light that produces light by passing electricity through ionized xenon gas at high pressure. It produces a bright white light that closely mimics natural sunlight. Xenon arc lamps are used in movie projectors in theaters, in searchlights, and for specialized uses in industry and research to simulate sunlight. Xenon headlamps in automobiles actually use metal-halide lamps where a xenon arc is only used during start-up.

Types

Xenon arc lamps can be roughly divided into three categories:

Each consists of a fused quartz or other heat resistant glass arc tube, with a tungsten metal electrode at each end. The glass tube is first evacuated and then re-filled with xenon gas. For xenon flashtubes, a third "trigger" electrode usually surrounds the exterior of the arc tube. The lamp has a lifetime of around 2000 hours.