Optical study of pre-breakdown processes in compact fluorescent lamps

Plasma breakdown is the process that occurs when a voltage is applied across an electrode gap and the neutral gas in the gap becomes ionized and electrically conducting. The goal of our research is to study breakdown processes experimentally on a sub-nanosecond timescale, so that features of breakdown can be observed with adequate time and spatial resolution. In this paper, we describe the measurement system and measurement methods for this study