Deuterium lamp

Deuterium, also known as heavy hydrogen due to having a neutron in its nucleus, is an isotope of hydrogen. These are small lamps used for scientific purposes mainly due to their wide-band emissions in the UV region of the spectrum. Most of these lamps are in a quartz envelope to transmit the UV. The emitted light is controlled and directional due to the anode construction. These lamps use a heated cathode, once the arc has struck the heater supply can be reduced or cut due to gas bombardment keeping the cathode in thermionic emission. The ballast is an electronic inverter with some extra control. There is a preheat timer where only the cathode is heated for about 30s, then there is an ignition pulse starting the lamp. After a further short run up time the heater current is reduced and the lamp burns normally. It is possible to have a simple set-up and manually go through the start and run process if the correct ballast isn't available.