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Induction Lamps
Electrodeless Fluorescent Lamps
1990s - Today

Introduction & Statistics HEP Lamps

How They Work Sulfur Lamps
Design Variations Inventors and Developments

Introduction:
The induction lamp is a promising technology which features good efficiency and long life. The induction lamp was
conceived early on by Nobel laureate J.J Thomson. It was not until the 1960s-1970s when patents for a practical
induction lamp were filed by both General Electric and Philips (more on inventors at the bottom of this page). Even then
it was not until the 1990s that induction lamps began to see use on a wider scale. They still have not reached full market
potential yet and there is still work to do to improve the lamp.
All credits and sources are located at the bottom of each lighting page

Advantages:
-Longer life: no electrodes, electrodes fail in normal fluorescent lamps
shortening life, the tungsten thins and brakes.
-Longer life: sealed tube, by not having electrodes the tube can be perfectly
sealed, when seals go bad in regular fluorescent lamps gas escapes through
the weakness and the lamp fails.
-Energy efficient, often 80+ lumens per watt
-No flickering
-Dimmable 30 -100%
-Can light both small and large areas depending on which type of induction
lamp one uses

Disadvantages:
-Bulky design for large area lighting, the discharge tube is large compared with
HID lamps.
-New and Old technology: it is new: it is still expensive to buy the lamps. It is
old: most companies that make the lamps are using 20 year old ballast
technology copied from OSRAM and Philips. The ballasts have a high failure
rate.
- The technology is under commercialized.
-Radio interference is a major problem to be worked out. The lamps are
limited in use due to this issue.

A video on induction lamps will be added here soon.

Statistics
-Lumens per watt: 65 - 87 (external) 50 - 70 (internal)
-Lamp life: 60,000 - 75,000 hrs internal induction lamp
85,000 - 100,000 external induction lamp
-CRI 80
-Color Temperature: 3000 K and up
Warm up time: instant on

Common uses: outdoor lighting, indoor lighting, streetlamps, replacement for

common indoor lighting, so far the lamp has had limited popularity and production,
so more uses may emerge in the future

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1. How it Works 2. Variations & Uses 3. Inventors & Developments

Below: General video on the induction lamp:

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1.) How it Works:

Induction Lamps create light by using an electromagnetic field to excite mercury particles mixed in an inert gas like
argon or krypton. The mercury creates a UV light and a phosphor on the inside of the bulb or tube filters the energy into
visible light. This is a type of fluorescent light. Unlike a standard fluorescent light this does not use electrodes in the
tube.

The lamp has three parts: frequency generator (ballast), discharge tube and electromagnet (aka: inductor, energy
coupling coils or energizing coils).

1. First the ballast creates high frequency current (230 or 250 KHz).
2. The current is sent through the electromagnet and an electric field is produced. The number of turns (times the wire is
wrapped around the iron core) is determined by how each product is designed (so it is not consistent among different
lamps).
3. Energy is transferred from the magnet to the mercury in the tube in the same way that a transformer works...
induction.
4. The mercury vapor emits UV light which strikes the phosphor and makes light.

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NOTE: The HEP induction lamp works differently, it

uses a nobel gas with metal halide salts to create a
high intensity light. The HEP also uses a magnetron
to create microwave frequencies, it is described
later on.

The ballast is made of four parts. First is an EMI

filter to reduce harmonics from the supply of
alternating current. The next part is a bridge rectifier,
this converts AC to DC power. After that is the PFC
circuit which boosts the DC voltage to a constant
400 V value and increases the power factor to
0.95+. The final part of the ballast is an inverter
which converts the DC power to high frequency AC.
For a more advanced discussion of the ballast and
control read here.

Left: John Anderson at GE developed the first

commercial induction lamp, building upon earlier
work by Peter Cooper Hewitt.
Photo: The Schenectady Museum

Longest Life:
The induction lamp has the longest life of any light source.
External Induction Lamp: 85,000-100,000 hours
The external induction lamp lasts the longest due to its design which allows waste heat to escape directly into the air
from the coil.
Internal Induction Lamp: 60,000-75,000
The internal induction lamp has the coil buried in the glass envelope bulb. The waste heat eventually damages the
induction assembly, see below to learn more about the types of induction lamps.

2. Variations and Uses

There are three kinds of induction lamps: external, internal and HEP

A.) External Induction Lamp - this uses an induction coil mounted outside of the bulb or tube. The metal coil which is
covered by a sheath is clearly visible. A soft or rubberized material is used to prevent the metal ring from coming in
direct contact with the glass tube.
High frequency energy is sent from the ballast to the electromagnet. This creates a powerful magnetic field, this excites
the mercury amalgam in the protruding small tub (see diagram below). It is normal for mercury when it cools from a
vapor form to escape to the coolest part of a bulb or tube, this is usually on the ends of a standard fluorescent tube or
HID discharge tube. The small tube is designed to consistently capture the mercury after the lamp is turned off. The tube
is located close to the inductor so that the powerful magnetic field easily excites the mercury. The mercury vaporizes
and spreads throughout the rest of the tube. It continues to be excited since the magnetic field reaches more than 6
inches in the examples below. If the lamp is large enough two inductors are needed to keep the entire tube area excited.
Just as in a standard fluorescent lamp, the mercury vapor creates UV and this is converted into visible light via the
phosphor.

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There may be more than one mercury amalgam, others are called assistant amalgams and are located close to the induction
assembly.

If there are two coils on the lamp (left) than both coils are
wired in parallel, not in series.

B.) Internal Induction Lamp - this works on the same principle as the external induction lamp except that the
electromagnet is placed inside of the glass bulb. This is typically used when you need a small lamp in a normal
household socket.

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Smaller induction lamps for household use start at 7

USD as of 2012. Prices will drop and the light may
become more popular as an alternative to higher
priced LED bulbs. (LED units are more expensive to
produce than induction lamps)

C.) High Efficiency Plasma (HEP)

A new type of induction lamp has been developed called the high efficiency
plasma or HEP. The HEP lamp performs at 90 lumens per system watt.
Components: It uses a quartz RF resonator and integral plasma burner with a
transition unit and magnetron. The integrated burner use metal halide salts
and an inert gas. Microwave energy within the lamp resonates and ionizes the
gas, this combines with metal halides to make an intense white light. Read
more from its manufacturer Ceravision here.

The HEP lamp is a "Plasma Lamp" just like the LEP. The LEP was developed earlier in 2001, it uses a dielectric
waveguide made of ceramic. Much of the light was lost in the ceramic waveguide resulting in loss of efficiency.
Ceravision changed the design using a clear quartz waveguide which improved the lamp and forms what we call the
HEP.

D.) Sulfur Lamp

The sulfur lamp is also a plasma lamp. It uses microwave radiation to

excite sulfur vapor mixed with argon to create light. 2.45 GHz radiation
hits a electrodeless bulb that contains a sulfur powder. You can identify
the lamp by a metal screen on the outside of the lamp. The bulb operates
at a very high temperature and most models needs a fan for cooling.

The lamp was developed in the 1990s and failed to be a commercial

success. It may come back into the public eye as it is improved.
Improvements include eliminating the fan. Today the lamp is sold in
limited numbers by LG under the name Plasma Lighting System (PLS).

Photo: Wikipedia Commons

Below: an interesting toy that uses induction to power chess pieces. See this an other live working examples of
induction lamps at the Edison Tech Center.

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3. Inventors and Developments

Above: J.J. Thomson built various induction lamps to study the electromagnetic field, however his work did not focus on creating
consumer products. He is more well known for the discovery of the electron and developments in x-ray/cathode ray tubes.

1884 Johann Wilhelm Hittorf discovers the electrodeless discharge lamp. Hittorf is
also known for the discovery of the cathode-ray tube in 1869
Munster, Germany

1880s J. J. Thomson thoroughly studies the phenomena of the electrodeless

discharge lamp after initial discovery by Johann Wilhelm Hittorf (1884). Thomson like
Hittorf is an established physicist. Cambridge, England

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1893 Nikola Tesla first demonstrates his electrodeless lamp at the 1893 World
Columbian Exposition in Chicago. His lamp looked like a large lightbulb and had
strange greenish phosphors. His lamp was powered by the electromagnetic field of a
nearby large "Tesla Coil". Tesla brought the lamp into the public eye and further
improved the lamp. The industrialist later sued academian J.J. Thomson in order to
secure rights to try to make money from it. A practical consumer lamp was never
developed.
New York, NY

1904 Peter Cooper Hewitt developed an induction lamp that used mercury vapor
(like today's lamps). He already had expertise as the inventor of the first commercial
mercury vapor lamps. He worked on induction lamps with a sphere shape and double
sphere shape, with external induction coils wrapped around the sphere or "waist" of the
double sphere. PC Hewitt also developed internal induction lamps. General Electric, New
York, NY

1967 John Anderson develops the first reliable electrodeless lamp. The induction
lamp moves out of experimental stages and the commercial era of the lamp begins.
Later his compact GENURA lamp was released in 1994. Anderson was a professor at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and employee of General Electric with 27 patents
related to lamp technology. He also advanced regular fluorescent lamps. Read more on
Anderson's work.
Schenectady, New York
Photo: Schenectady Museum

1990s Philips Corporation (no names available) develops the QL induction lamp
series. The lamps operated at 2.65 Mz.
Nederlands

1990 Michael Ury, Charles Wood develop the sulfur lamp, the first form of "plasma
lamp" which uses microwave energy to energize sulfur in a sealed bulb. The US
Department of Energy and Fusion Lighting developed this lamp. The sulfur lamp led to
the LEP and HEP lamp later on.
Rockville, Maryland, US

2000s Andrew Neate developes the HEP lamp (High Efficiency Plasma). This lamp is
a cross between the induction lamp and a metal halide lamp. Ceravision. Also see LEP
lamps listed on our metal halide page. Neate developed a quartz waveguide that
increases efficiency.

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

2005 ? at Amko Solara develops the dimmable fluorescent induction lamp which
operates at 250 KHz.

Help us complete this history if you know who was the inventor. Contact us.

Note: Osram has its own line called the Endura which operates at 250 kHz

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Above: 1891: J.J. Thomson's induction lamp was used to study electromagnetic fields and there was no phosphor on
the bulb. Only the circular part of the glass bulb glowed with an arc discharge. Thomson's work set the stage for later
inventors like Tesla and Peter Cooper Hewitt. Learn more about J.J. Thomson from the book: J.J. Thomson and the
Discovery of the Electron by E.A. Davis and Isobel J. Falconer.

Above: 1893: Tesla demonstrating wireless power transferred through the air by electromagnetic fields created by the
Tesla coil in Chicago. His demonstration attracted a lot of attention, however the invention needed a lot of work to
become practical. RFI/EMI and severe safety issues were the major problems with wireless lamp power. His use of
phosphors in the induction lamp are a lasting contribution to the modern incandescent lamp. Phosphors were first used
in regular electrode lamps as early as the 1859 by Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel

Below: 1904 Peter Cooper Hewitt develops both internal and external induction lamps which are the first to use
mercury vapor. Mercury is inserted into the spheres, then impurities are removed before sealing the vessel. Below are
four different configurations.

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Back to Top

Lamps are presented in the order of chronological development

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Previous: Metal Halide Lamps 1962 Congratulations! you have finished all 12 lamp types.
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Arc - Incandescent - Nernst - Neon - Mercury Vapor - Sodium Lamp - Fluorescent - Halogen - EL - LED - MH - Induction

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Written by M.Whelan with additional research by Rick DeLair
Please contact us if you are a historian and wish to correct or improve this document.

Sources:
"A Consideration on the electrodeless fluorescent lamp and its radio interference characteristics". Jin-Dam Mok, Sang-Bong Jeon, Seun-Keun Park. IEEE
Xplore Digital Library.
Inductionlighting.blogspot.com
Wikipedia
www.Electriciansforum.co.uk Induction Lighting
tzlight.com/technology.html
Britannica.com
Merriam-Webster
home.frognet.net/~ejvcov/anderson
enotes.com
Environmental Aspects of Magnetic Induction Lamps by L. Michael Roberts and Jim Morelli
JJ Thomson and the Discovery of the Electron by I.J. Falconer

Photos:
Edison Tech Center
Schenectady Museum
Other photos from the public domain (historical)
US Patent office

Photos may be reproduced by educators as long as the photo is not altered and the source tag identifying the Edison Tech Center is not changed.

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