Claims
- 1. A discharge lamp, comprising:
means for containing a light emitting fill, the fill being capable of absorbing light at one wavelength and re-emitting the light at a different wavelength, the light emitted from the fill having a first spectral power distribution in the absence of reflection of light back into the fill; means for exciting the fill to cause the fill to emit light; and means for reflecting some of the light emitted by the fill back into the fill while allowing some light to exit, the exiting light having a second spectral power distribution with proportionately more light in the visible region as compared to the first spectral power distribution, wherein the light re-emitted by the fill is shifted in wavelength with respect to the absorbed light and the magnitude of the shift is in relation to an effective optical path length.
- 2. The discharge lamp as recited in claim 1, wherein the means for reflecting substantially increases the effective optical path length with respect to at least a portion of the first spectral power distribution.
- 3. The discharge lamp as recited in claim 1, wherein the fill comprises at least one substance selected from the group of sulfur and selenium and a fill density is selected such that the first spectral power distribution comprises a substantial spectral power component in the ultraviolet region.
- 4. A discharge lamp, comprising:
an envelope; a fill which emits light when excited disposed in the envelope; a source of excitation power coupled to the fill to excite the fill and cause the fill to emit light; and a reflective ceramic structure disposed around the envelope and defining an light emitting opening, wherein the structure comprises a sintered body built up directly on the envelope and made from a combination of alumina and silica.
- 5. The discharge lamp as recited in claim 4, wherein the reflective ceramic structure does not adhere to the envelope.
- 6. The discharge lamp as recited in claim 4, wherein the reflective ceramic structure has a similar thermal index of expansion as compared to the envelope.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/309,272, filed May 11, 1999 (allowed), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/865,516, filed May 29, 1997 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,903,091), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/656,381, filed May 31, 1996 (abandoned).
[0002] The present application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/147,309, filed Nov. 25, 1998 (allowed).
Government Interests
[0003] This invention was made with Government Support under Contract No. DE-FG01-95EE23796 awarded by the Department of Energy. The Government has certain rights in this invention.
Continuations (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09309272 |
May 1999 |
US |
Child |
09874374 |
Jun 2001 |
US |
Parent |
08865516 |
May 1997 |
US |
Child |
09309272 |
May 1999 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08656381 |
May 1996 |
US |
Child |
08865516 |
May 1997 |
US |