Dielectric barrier discharge lamp

At the outer boundary of a discharge container 1, a pair of opposed electrodes 3a and 4a and a pair of opposed electrodes 3b and 4b are disposed with a specified spacing being given between them, and to each pair of opposed electrodes, a high-frequency voltage is applied from a high-frequency, high-voltage power supply 8 through a limiting resistor 6a, 7a, and a limiting resistor 6b, 7b. Across each pair of opposed electrodes, a steamer of discharge plasma corresponding to the amperage of the discharge current is generated, however, by adjusting the resistance value of the above-mentioned limiting resistor 6a, 7a, and the resistance value of the limiting resistor 6b, 7b, the discharge current is appropriately set, and thus the streamers of discharge plasma generated across the pairs of opposed electrodes are made uniform. Because the pair of opposed electrodes is disposed eccentrically with respect to the axis of the discharge container 1, a creeping discharge can be developed on the inside wall in the vicinity of the electrodes or over the entire path of discharge, resulting in the "fluctuation" of the streamer being suppressed.

What is claimed is:

1. A dielectric barrier discharge lamp comprising a cylindrical discharge container having a longitudinal axis in which ultraviolet radiation is to be produced, a discharge gas sealed in the discharge container, and a pair of discharge electrodes provided at an outside surface of said discharge container with end portions thereof being in contact with the container,

the end portions of two discharge electrodes constituting said pair of electrodes are opposed to each other across a discharge space so that an imaginary line connecting the end portions of the two electrodes is eccentric and does not intersect the longitudinal axis of said discharge container; and a plane passing perpendicular to the line is approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis.

2. A dielectric barrier discharge lamp according to claim 1, wherein a stream of discharge plasma generated across said pair of discharge electrodes forms a shape when viewed from the direction of the axis which disposes it toward an inside wall of said discharge container.

3. A dielectric barrier discharge lamp according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a current limiting resistor is inserted in series with said pair of discharge electrodes.

4. A dielectric barrier discharge lamp according to claim 2, wherein a current limiting resistor is inserted in series with said pair of discharge electrodes.

5. The dielectric barrier discharge lamp according to claim 1, including a plurality of said pair of discharge electrodes in contact with the outside surface of said discharge container, each of said plurality of pairs of discharge electrodes being spaced from apart along said longitudinal axis, and each pair of discharge electrodes having said imaginary line which lies in a position offset to the longitudinal axis of the discharge container.

6. The dielectric barrier discharge lamp according to claim 2, wherein the shape of the streamer of discharge plasma is such as is obtained as when the plasma is pulled by the inside surface so that the plasma discharge streamer has an outer shape that is bent toward the inside surface.