The typical high-pressure sodium lamp has a color temperature of about 2, 100 K, a lamp efficacy of 110lm/W, and a general color rendering index of 20 to 30. Through our experiments with increasing sodium-vapor pressure and varying ratio of mercury to sodium in the discharge tube, we have obtained design data for a new lamp with the following characteristics:
(1) Color temperature of up to 4, 000 K
(2) General color rendering index of close to 88 at about 2, 550 K
(3) High saturation of illuminated colors, resulting in a color rendition that is preferred to that of a reference illuminant
(4) Lamp efficacy of about 60 lm/W at 2, 550 K
In the discharge tube of the new lamp, the molecules and the pseudo molecules of sodium increase with an increasing sodium-vapor pressure, and they are localized in the vicinity of the tube wall. The radiation from the arc plasma in the central portion of the tube is modulated by the sodium vapor layer containing such molecular sodium particles. The existence of a buffer gas makes the arc plasma contract thermally towards the axis of the tube, which expands the sodium vapor layer, and gives a strong modulation to the radiation.
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