A simple high-sensitivity acoustic resonance detection method for metal halide lamps

Abstract

To detect acoustic resonance (AR) in metal halide (MH) lamps, a simple high-sensitivity method with a multiplier detector is presented in this paper. Voltage envelope variations are measured to evaluate whether AR occurs in MH lamps. The study is focused on improving the sensitivity of an AR detection method. Several manufacturers’ MH lamps are tested in our experiment. In addition, in order to verify the proposed method, the other method of voltage envelope detection is evaluated by a lock-in amplifier with high sensitivity and detection results are analyzed by statistical methods. The results show that the proposed circuit can provide similar sensitivity as the expensive lock-in amplifier to detect AR phenomena and the AR-free and the slight AR level can be easily distinguished.