Electrodeless light source having improved arc shaping capability

Abstract

An electrodeless lamp is positioned at the end of an inner and outer conductor forming a termination fixture, the inner conductor being shaped such that the arc within the lamp during excitation is isolated from the wall of the lamp envelope. The inner conductor may be formed as a hollow helical element thereby providing both an axial and azimuthal electric field component. Alternatively, the inner conductor may be cup-shaped which has a shielding effect to control the electric field strength at the end of the conductor. The helical or cup element and other features of the inner conductor provide both arc shaping and impedance matching between the complex impedance of the lamp during operation and the output impedance of a high frequency power source which is coupled to the termination fixture.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.