Free-Electron Pump (FEP) Experiments

The high voltage terminal which is connected to the Fluorescent lamp ionizes the gas inside the tube. As more electrons are released from the gas molecules (or atoms), it becomes more conductive. This in turn shorts the HV connected terminal of the FL lamp to the open terminal with minimal resistance. And the open terminal now has the same high potential. When I attach a large aluminum foil, it too is charged to this potential due to conductive path formed by the ionized gas. And the high potential causes more free electrons to be sucked from the aluminum foil by the transformer secondary which acts like a sink.  
Therefore, additional electrons from the gas medium, and the aluminum foil are supplied, and in turn the lamp gets brighter. Larger metallic sheets will supply even more electrons. The secondary HV terminal acts as a sink, which generates the + potential and sucks the electrons. The moving electrons due to high potential are released by the – terminal of the secondary.  
2 FEP Experiments 
I built an oscillator based on 555 IC and drove an auto ignition coil using a BUZ30A-type SIPMOS transistor. The circuit can be seen in Fig. 3. I conducted some tests using the above circuit. Results are summarized in Tables 1 and 2.