System and method for generating a discharge in high pressure gases

1. A method of generating an electrical discharge in a gas sealed within an enclosure having a dielectric wall, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a gas-containing enclosure having a dielectric wall;

providing a helical coil resonator comprising a housing and a helical coil forming an electrode at one end positioned within the housing, the resonator being separate from the gas-containing enclosure;

positioning the electrode of the helical coil resonator in proximity to the dielectric wall of the gas-containing enclosure; and

driving the helical coil resonator at an RF frequency to thereby generate an RF electric-magnetic field sufficient to generate an electrical discharge in the gas contained within the enclosure.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the driving step includes pulsing the RF electric-magnetic field.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of confining the electrical discharge to a narrow plasma.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of spectrally analyzing the discharge.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrical discharge is generated by substantially capacitively coupling with the resonator.

6. A system comprising:

a dielectric enclosure containing a gas;

an RF generator for generating an RF field sufficient to effect a discharge in said gas, said generator being separate from the dielectric enclosure and comprising:

an RF power source; and

a helical coil resonator, said resonator comprising a housing and a wire forming a helically coiled portion positioned within said housing and an electrode, said wire being connected to said RF power source, said electrode being in sufficient proximity to said dielectric enclosure to establish a discharge in said gas.

7. The system of claim 6 , further comprising a spectral analyzer for determining the spectrum of the discharge.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the dielectric enclosure comprises a portion of a high intensity discharge lamp.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the electrode is in sufficient proximity to the enclosure to cause substantially capacitively coupled discharge.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein said dielectric enclosure is sufficiently spaced from said coiled portion to avoid generating a discharge in the gas due to inductive coupling with a field bounded by the coil.

11. A device for generating an electrical discharge in a gas sealed within a separate enclosure having a dielectric wall, said device comprising:

an electrically conducting shield having a generally cylindrical wall;

an electrically conducing wire forming a helix axially positioned within said wall, said wire forming an electrode at one end and having an RF power receiving tap near the other end; and

an RF power source connected to said tap and providing RF power to generate an RF field at the electrode having sufficient strength to penetrate the dielectric wall of the separate enclosure to thereby effect a discharge in the gas sealed within the enclosure.

12. The device of claim 11 wherein the length of the wire between the electrode and the tap is about one quarter the wavelength of the RF power.

13. The device of claim 11 wherein the voltage of the RF power at the electrode is at least twenty times greater than the voltage of the RF power at the tap.

14. The device of claim 13 wherein the voltage of the RF power at the electrode is at least one hundred times greater than the voltage of the RF power at the tap.

15. The device of claim 11 , wherein the electrode is in sufficient proximity to the enclosure to cause substantially capacitively coupled discharge.