Mari (continued from above): Let’s turn this [neon light] into a nixie tube. We are going to turn this cathode, which is the negative terminal (see picture below), into a digit, let's say the number 6. We are literally going to shape it like the number 6. On the other side we’ll have the positive terminal [the anode]. If we give it alternating current the source will switch between the anode and cathode, so we have to attach our DC source to the cathode. This [neon light] uses AC, and this [nixie tube] uses DC.
Something that people commonly misunderstand about nixie tubes is that this [the glow of the tube] is done by heating up some sort of filament, but that’s not at all true. [the glow] is coming from the gas surrounding [the cathode] being ionized… It works by emission spectrums which are pretty efficient, so nixie tubes are actually a pretty efficient display technology, but they are very difficult to manufacture, because they need to be close to vacuum in order to be manufactured.
Alex: Thank you for your time! Anything else you want to add?
Mari: Do not break nixie tubes! They often contain a little bit of mercury!
