Patent ID: 8120236

Claim:
A light-emitting structure, the light-emitting structure emitting light in at least one of a visible spectrum and an ultraviolet (UV) spectrum, comprising: first and second dielectric walls with planar main faces facing each other and defining an internal space containing at least one of a visible light and a UV radiation source; first and second electrodes for at least one of the visible light and the UV radiation source, which generate electric field lines with at least one component perpendicular to the first and second electrodes, the first and second electrodes being associated with the first and second dielectric walls, respectively, the first electrode being supplied by a high-frequency electromagnetic signal of frequency f 0 ; an outer cover for the first electrode and that comprises an electrical protective conductor separated from the first electrode by an interlayer dielectric, the interlayer dielectric being substantially flat and having a capacitance C, the electrical protective conductor being connected to an electrical power supply with an adjustable potential V and with an adjustable frequency f, at least one of the potential and the frequency being adjusted so that a peak value of an external leakage current is equal to 2 mA or less when f is zero, or 0.7 mA and less when f is non-zero, and wherein at least one of the interlayer dielectric, the protective conductor, the first electrode, and the second electrode is chosen such that power consumed at terminals of the interlayer dielectric is equal to or less than 0.35 times the power, P, supplied by the electrical power supply, and such that the power P d , at least at a surface temperature chosen between 25° C. and 60° C. being given by formula: P d =2πf 0 CU 2 sin δ in which δ is a loss angle of the interlayer dielectric and U is the voltage across the terminals of the interlayer dielectric.