A sulfur plasma lamp has a lamp envelope of transparent or translucent glass or ceramic material. At least two silicon carbide electrodes are hermetically sealed with the lamp envelope and in contact with an interior of the lamp envelope. A quantity of sulfur within the interior of the lamp envelope is sufficient to create a sulfur plasma upon excitation. A buffer gas within the interior of the lamp envelope enables initial discharge and heating of the interior of the lamp envelope to excite the sulfur into a plasma state. More than two electrodes may be provided, and an electrical potential is created between different pairs of the electrodes at different times, thereby inducing stirring of the plasma upon excitation of the material into a plasma state.
