Xenon is used in incandescent lighting. Because less energy can be used to produce the same unit of light output as a normal incandescent lamp, the filament doesn't have to work "as hard" and filament life is increased. Because of its high intensity light characteristics, xenon is used in the aviation field for flashing lights guiding pilots on runway approaches. The latest innovation in automotive headlamps is the arc-discharge headlamp.

Xenon flash lamps are used in lasers to "energize" or start laser lights. Though rapid advances in laser technology over the past two decades have provided numerous sources of pulsed coherent radiation throughout the infrared and visible spectrum, few high-power ultraviolet sources were commercially available until the discovery of the excimer laser, of which many use a xenon "flash" to get them started.

Xenon and lasers are also finding possible application in wastewater treatment through generation of ultraviolet light. Current systems rely upon mercury vapor lamps. The xenon flashlamp, first developed as an energy source for laser beams, produces more photons and sends them out at energy levels five or more times intense than mercury devices.

Xenon makes it possible to obtain better x-rays with reduced amounts of radiation and, when mixed with oxygen, is used to enhance contrast in CT imaging and to determine blood flow.

Plasma display panels (PDPs) using xenon as one of the fill gases may one day replace the large picture tube in televisions and computer monitors. The advent of HDTV, along with the flat-panel PDPs promises to revolutionize the TV and computer display industry.

Liquid xenon has been proposed for use in a calorimeter for sub-atomic particle detection. Many researchers around the world are involved in this research. As liquid xenon is roughly 500 times as dense as gases normally used in particle detectors, and its atoms are therefore more tightly packed, it promises to provide exquisite sensitivity and accuracy over 10 times greater than previous devices in pinpointing the positions of particles. Xenon is not actually consumed in the detection process, and is recycled, so, aside from the initial filling volume requirement, makeup losses for these types of devices are small.

One of the newest fields to make its demands for xenon known is the aerospace industry. Although not a new idea, the use of xenon as a propellant for positioning thrusters on satellites has recently gained significant momentum.

For detailed information on Xenon, please see our specification data sheet.

Select a gas from the list of the below for more information about gas applications and supply options.