We have constructed two kinds of nanosecond discharge lamps using an ignition coil for an automobile, in which a commercially available Xe lamp that is normally operated at a direct-current (dc) mode is employed. The first one is a free-running uncontrolled-driven Xe discharge lamp, where a positive high-voltage pulse obtained from the ignition coil is applied directly to an anode electrode of the Xe lamp. The second one refined is a synchronized-driven Xe discharge lamp, in which a capacitance C attached on the anode electrode of the lamp is charged up in a stepwise fashion to the breakdown voltage of the lamp and then an external control signal for triggering the lamp discharge is fed on a high-voltage semiconductor switch connected between the cathode electrode of the lamp and the ground. Unlike the conventional discharge lamp, no high-voltage dc power supply is required and, therefore, it is free from undesirable arc discharge problems. To increase the repetition frequency of the pulsed emission, two ignition coils whose operating phases are shifted by 180degrees with respect to each other are incorporated. When C=10 pF, the pulse width, peak power, and repetition frequency were 8.0 ns, 2.0 W, and 125 Hz, respectively, with a time jitter of 60 ns. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.