| abstract |
A gas discharge lamp is described with at least one capacitive coupling structure ( 10, 10′ ), which lamp has the particular feature that the coupling structure ( 10, 10′ ) is provided for generating an electromagnetic field with a frequency below approximately 50 MHz, that it is formed by a metal element ( 101, 101′ ) surrounded by a dielectric layer ( 102, 102′ ) at least in the region of a discharge space, which layer is less than approximately 100 μm thick. It was surprisingly found that operation at low frequencies is possible with such a coupling structure, for which efficient ballasts are available. A further advantage is that this coupling structure compared with known coupling structures for frequencies below approximately 50 MHz only cause a minimum shadow effect. The efficacy of the entire system is considerably higher than that of known lamps of this kind for these two reasons. |