Hello all!
I am curious to know how small neon glow lamps (NE-2, etc) are constructed. Clearly you start with a small glass tube, and fill it with neon. What pressure? Pure Ne or a mixture? I understand that some long neon tubes, as used with multi-kV transformers in signs, have a little mercury in them along with the gas... do little glow lamps have mercury? Then you need metallic electrodes - is a particular metal preferred? Finally, I know that electronic vacuum tubes often contain a "getter" to help get rid of any residual oxygen; is this done for glow lamps?
For reference, the kind of lamp I am talking about looks like this
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and is maybe 1/4" (6 mm) diameter and anywhere from 1/2" to 1" (12 to 25 mm) long.
Thanks!
Matt Roberds