MG Hollow Cathode Lamp 50mm

A hollow-cathode lamp (HCL) is type of cold cathode lamp used in physics and chemistry as a spectral line source (e.g. for atomic absorption spectrometers) and as a frequency tuner for light sources such as lasers. An HCL takes advantage of the hollow cathode effect, which causes conduction at a lower voltage and with more current than a cold cathode lamp that does not have a hollow cathode.

An HCL usually consists of a glass tube containing a cathode, an anode, and a buffer gas (usually a noble gas). A large voltage across the anode and cathode will cause the buffer gas to ionize, creating a plasma. The buffer gas ions will then be accelerated into the cathode, sputtering off atoms from the cathode. Both the buffer gas and the sputtered cathode atoms will in turn be excited by collisions with other atoms/particles in the plasma. As these excited atoms decay to lower states, they will emit photons. These photons will then excite the atoms in the sample, which will release their own photons and be used to generate data.

Our hollow cathode lamps are quick to reach equilibrium performance, offer a long-term constant light intensity, and low noise with good calibration. Inside each lamp, there is a high volume of inert gas to increase the lamp’s lifetime to 5000 mA hours. Choose from coded lamp versions for Perkin Elmer®.