Physical Science, Measurement and Instrumentation, Management and Education, IEE Proceedings A

Although fluorescent lamp circuits are, formally, simple, they are problematic because of the physical properties of the lamp. The author considers voltage/current characteristic v(i) of a lamp at low frequencies, which is responsible for the strong nonlinearity of the circuits. The saturation character of v(i), at high currents, is important for calculation of the power consumed by the lamp. The final discussion explains some physical details showing the relevance of the lamp physics to optoelectronic and solid-state device engineers. The increasing use of the lamp circuits and the necessity to optimise them make the discussion relevant.<>