Apparently the idea of putting a halogen gas or compound into an incandescent lamp was pretty much forgotten for several decades after the appearance of the Novak lamp. The next noteworthy attempt to use a halogen occurred in the early 1950s following the formation of a small group, for the purpose of developing a heat lamp, at the General Electric lighting headquarters (named Nela Park, in E. Cleveland, Ohio). The group was under the leadership of Alton Foote. The lamp, which was to be used for drying purposes, was to have a small diameter outer envelope of fused quartz instead of the traditional larger reflector type bulb. A marked difference between the reflector type of bulb and the quartz bulb is that the quartz can withstand much higher temperatures. During operation it is possible for the quartz to become red hot.
Linear quartz heat lamps were made in the laboratory but sometimes it was found that they would blacken. One of the workers in the group was Elmer G. Fridrich. Fridrich's assignment to that group resulted in an unforseen benefit to the lighting industry that was to be realized many months later. Elmer had read about a refining process for exotic metals in a chemistry and metallurgy magazine; the process utilized a halogen cycle. For about six months the similarity of the refining apparatus and a vertically burning quartz heat lamp continued to intrigue Elmer. One day, after the chores of the workday had been completed (that is, following the making of a certain number of heat lamps), Elmer asked Al Foote if he could pursue an idea that he had; the idea was to put some iodine in the lamp to determine its effect. Permission was granted, and Elmer then consulted with some of the older technical personnel, including Carl Kenty. It was during these consultations that Elmer learned that halogens had been tried in (carbon filament) lamps before. At least two patents had been granted, as mentioned above. As a result of these consultations it was decided to proceed with the idea to add iodine to some lamps.
One of the engineers at that time was William F. Hodge. Bill was nearing retirement and in his laboratory he had an unused vacuum system that was offered to Elmer for lamp processing. In addition to allowing Elmer to use his vacuum system, Bill supplied Elmer with tubulated clear quartz heat lamps which had tungsten supports. Another colleague, Mary Jaffe, supplied Elmer with iodine. At that time Elmer had no experience in "tipping off" lamps and so he approached another colleague and friend, Emmett H. Wiley, who did have the necessary experience in tipping off lamps from a vacuum system. The stage was now set for the first quartz tungsten filament halogen lamp to be made with a measured amount of iodine. Unlike many initial attempts at invention, this one was to be, in Elmer's own words, "A howling success." The promise of a workable lamp seemed assured. It was to be found out later, however, that short lamp life was experienced. It became clear that additional investigations were required in order to result in a product that was consistent in its performance.