Sciencetech deuterium power supplies produce the high stability, high output, and long service life required for deuterium lamps for spectrophotometry.
A deuterium lamp uses a tungsten filament and anode placed on opposite sides of a nickel box structure designed to produce an optimal output spectrum. Unlike an incandescent bulb, the filament is not the source of light in deuterium lamps.
Instead an arc is created from the filament to the anode, a similar process to arc lamps. Because the filament must be very hot before it can operate, it is heated for approximately twenty seconds before use.
The discharge process produces its own heat, and so the heater is turned down after discharge begins. Although firing voltages are typically 600 volts, once the arc is created voltages drop to around 60-100 volts.