Flashtube
Incoherent light source / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Flashlamp" redirects here. For a handheld electric torch for illumination, see flashlight. For electrically ignited burning luminescent powder, see flash-lamp.
A flashtube (flashlamp) is an electric arc lamp designed to produce extremely intense, incoherent, full-spectrum white light for a very short time. A flashtube is a glass tube with an electrode at each end and is filled with a gas that, when triggered, ionizes and conducts a high-voltage pulse to make light. Flashtubes are used most in photography; they also are used in science, medicine, industry, and entertainment.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Xenon-flash.jpg)