Editing Xenon (section)

==== Gas-discharge lamps ====
[[File:Xenon short arc 1.jpg|thumb|Xenon short-arc lamp|alt=Elongated glass sphere with two metal rod electrodes inside, facing each other. One electrode is blunt and another is sharpened.]]
[[File:STS-135 Atlantis rollout 1.jpg|thumb|Space Shuttle ''[[Space Shuttle Atlantis|Atlantis]]'' bathed in xenon lights]]
[[File:Xenon discharge tube.jpg|thumb|Xenon gas discharge tube]]
Xenon is used in light-emitting devices called xenon flash lamps, used in [[Flash (photography)|photographic flashes]] and stroboscopic lamps;<ref name="burke">{{cite book
| first     = James
| last      = Burke
| date      = 2003
| title     = Twin Tracks: The Unexpected Origins of the Modern World
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| isbn      = 0-7432-2619-4
| page      = [https://archive.org/details/twintracks00jame/page/33 33]
| url       = https://archive.org/details/twintracks00jame/page/33
}}</ref> to excite the [[active laser medium|active medium]] in [[laser]]s which then generate [[coherent light]];<ref>{{cite web
| author       = Staff
| year         = 2007
| url          = http://www.praxair.com/praxair.nsf/1928438066cae92d85256a63004b880d/32f3a328e11bb600052565660052c139?OpenDocument
| title        = Xenon Applications
| publisher    = Praxair Technology
| access-date  = October 4, 2007
| archive-date = March 22, 2013
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20130322123535/http://www.praxair.com/praxair.nsf/1928438066cae92d85256a63004b880d/32f3a328e11bb600052565660052c139?OpenDocument
| url-status   = dead
}}</ref> and, occasionally, in [[Bactericide|bactericidal]] lamps.<ref>{{cite journal
| last    = Baltás
| first   = E.
| author2 = Csoma, Z.
| author3 = Bodai, L.
| author4 = Ignácz, F.
| author5 = Dobozy, A.
| author6 = Kemény, L.
| s2cid   = 122651818
| title   = A xenon-iodine electric discharge bactericidal lamp
| journal = Technical Physics Letters
| year    = 2003
| volume  = 29
| issue   = 10
| pages   = 871–72
| doi     = 10.1134/1.1623874
| bibcode = 2003TePhL..29..871S
}}</ref> The first solid-state [[laser]], invented in 1960, was pumped by a xenon flash lamp,<ref name="toyserkani">{{cite book
| last      = Toyserkani
| first     = E.
| date      = 2004
| author2   = Khajepour, A.
| author3   = Corbin, S.
| page      = 48
| title     = Laser Cladding
| publisher = CRC Press
| isbn      = 0-8493-2172-7
| url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=zfvbyCHzVqMC&pg=PA48
}}</ref> and lasers used to power [[inertial confinement fusion]] are also pumped by xenon flash lamps.<ref>{{cite journal
| last         = Skeldon
| first        = M. D.
| author2      = Saager, R.
| author3      = Okishev, A.
| author4      = Seka, W.
| title        = Thermal distortions in laser-diode- and flash-lamp-pumped Nd:YLF laser rods
| journal      = LLE Review
| year         = 1997
| volume       = 71
| pages        = 137–44
| url          = http://www.lle.rochester.edu/pub/review/v71/6_thermal.pdf
| access-date  = February 4, 2007
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20031016171340/http://www.lle.rochester.edu/pub/review/v71/6_thermal.pdf
| archive-date = October 16, 2003
}}</ref>

Continuous, short-arc, high pressure [[xenon arc lamp]]s have a [[color temperature]] closely approximating noon sunlight and are used in [[Solar Simulator|solar simulators]]. That is, the [[chromaticity]] of these lamps closely approximates a heated [[black body]] radiator at the temperature of the Sun. First introduced in the 1940s, these lamps replaced the shorter-lived [[carbon arc lamp]]s in movie projectors.<ref name="mellor">{{cite book
| first      = David
| last       = Mellor
| year       = 2000
| page       = [https://archive.org/details/soundpersonsguid0000mell/page/186 186]
| title      = Sound Person's Guide to Video
| publisher  = [[Focal Press]]
| isbn       = 0-240-51595-1
| url        = https://archive.org/details/soundpersonsguid0000mell
| url-access = registration
}}</ref> They are also employed in typical [[35mm movie film|35mm]], [[IMAX]], and [[digital projectors|digital]] [[Movie projector|film projection]] systems. They are an excellent source of short wavelength [[ultraviolet]] radiation and have intense emissions in the near [[infrared]] used in some [[night vision]] systems. Xenon is used as a starter gas in [[Metal-halide lamp|metal halide lamps]] for [[HID Headlight|automotive HID headlights]], and high-end [[tactical light|"tactical" flashlights]].

The individual cells in a [[plasma display]] contain a mixture of xenon and neon ionized with [[electrode]]s. The interaction of this plasma with the electrodes generates ultraviolet [[photon]]s, which then excite the [[phosphor]] coating on the front of the display.<ref>{{cite web
| author       = Anonymous
| url          = http://www.plasmatvscience.org/theinnerworkings.html
| title        = The plasma behind the plasma TV screen
| publisher    = Plasma TV Science
| access-date  = October 14, 2007
| url-status   = dead
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071015160452/http://plasmatvscience.org/theinnerworkings.html
| archive-date = October 15, 2007
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
| last        = Marin
| first       = Rick
| date        = March 21, 2001
| title       = Plasma TV: That New Object Of Desire
| newspaper   = [[The New York Times]]
| url         = https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/25/style/plasma-tv-that-new-object-of-desire.html?sec=&spon=
| access-date = April 3, 2009
}}</ref>

Xenon is used as a "starter gas" in [[Sodium vapor lamp|high pressure sodium lamps]]. It has the lowest [[thermal conductivity]] and lowest [[ionization potential]] of all the non-radioactive noble gases. As a noble gas, it does not interfere with the chemical reactions occurring in the operating lamp. The low thermal conductivity minimizes thermal losses in the lamp while in the operating state, and the low ionization potential causes the [[breakdown voltage]] of the gas to be relatively low in the cold state, which allows the lamp to be more easily started.<ref>{{cite book
| first     = John
| last      = Waymouth
| date      = 1971
| title     = Electric Discharge Lamps
| publisher = [[MIT Press]]
| location  = Cambridge, MA
| isbn      = 0-262-23048-8
| url       = https://archive.org/details/electricdischarg00waym
}}</ref>