in alternative embodiments which is contemplated to go as high as one atmosphere pressure 760 torr and as low as 1 torr since the physical size of the plasma due to diffusion is a stronger function of pressure than the emission characteristics there is potential to scale the invention to larger dimensions and produce large area illumination sources in one embodiment the heated molybdenum substrate can be in the form of an rf induction coil which is surrounded by a graphite puck upon which the molybdenum stage rests under normal operating conditions the temperatures at which the molybdenum surface is exposed to the plasma were varied between 200 u00b0 c and 800 u00b0 c the gas mixture in the lamp is produced by adding equal volumes of o 2 and n 2 until the desired pressure in the chamber reaches about 20 40 torr the chamber can then be sealed and the microwave power initiated thus igniting the discharge typically 100 300 watts at 2 45 ghz are coupled into the gas when the stage is relatively cold at 200 u00b0 c the plasma generally appeared pinkish white due to emission from the high vibronic bands of the n 2 first positive transition after the system is allowed to reach stability typically 5 minutes in the early experimental.