Eliminating the Arcing Phenomenon in Field Emission Lighting Based on the Impulse-Power Technique

An impulse-power generator, which encompasses low-cost and simple configuration, operated in discontinuous conduction mode for driving a tubular field emission lamp (TFEL) is proposed. The proposed system based on flyback topology can provide impulse-power driving to eliminate arcing phenomenon caused by traditional dc voltage driving. Therefore, both the lighting performance and lamp lifespan are improved. This paper also presents a simple feedback mechanism to capture the peak value of the impulse lamp current for stabilizing lamp luminance. Next, an equivalent model of the TFEL is constructed to exhibit its capacitive characteristics. Furthermore, the circuit configuration and mathematical models of each operation mode in a switching cycle are also derived, and detailed design considerations are presented. All the experimental results agree with the computer simulations to verify the validity of the theoretical predictions.