Flashtubes are light sources with high power density. Therefore they are only made of high-temperature materials. All flashtubes consist of a tube made of hard glass or quartz glass with electrodes (anode/cathode) sealed in at each end.

In addition to linear glass tubes, various other shapes, such as U, ring and helix-shape are also available. When connecting flashtubes, polarity must be observed.

Almost all flashtubes are equipped with a capacitive trigger electrode. For example, a wire wrapped around the tube, a silver strip or transparent conductive coating on the outside of the glass. Leads on electrodes can be supplied with solid or flexible lead wires per our standards or customer specifications. Some types of tubes are also supplied with bases and protective covers.

Electronics flashtubes are gas discharge devices for pulse operation. Xenon is used as a fill-gas for most applications. The flash duration ranges usually between 10 us to 10 ms. For stroboscopic and beacon operations, the discharges are produced periodically and often over a longer period of time. In most cases the stroboscopic frequency ranges between 1 Hz to several kHz. Higher frequencies require special flashtubes and/or circuitries.