Cold-Cathode CFLs from Litetronics

In conventional CFLs, a

hot cathode made of tungsten wire coated with barium carbonate emits electrons, which pass through mercury vapor and generate ultraviolet light. It doesn’t take much energy to release these electrons, according to Steve Johnson, Ph.D., former head of the Lighting Research Group at Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory (LBNL) and currently a guest scientist there, but the lamp takes a minute or two to reach full brightness, and the cathode wears out after about 8,000 to 10,000 hours of use.