Coaxial HgI excimer lamps

The emission of coaxial HgI excimer lamps pumped by a repetitively pulsed barrier discharge is experimentally studied. The stable operation of the excimer lamps was demonstrated at pump-pulse repetition rates from 0.5 to 12 kHz, and the average emission power attained of 0.6 W at 444 nm. It was found that upon an addition of 0.8% of xenon to the mixture of helium and mercury diiodide, the pulse and average emission powers increased by 30%. The emission power reduced by 5% after 2.5 × 10⁶ pulses. An interpretation of the results of optimising the excimer lamp characteristics is given.