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A deuterium arc lamp or simply deuterium lamp is a low pressure gas discharge light source often used in spectroscopy when a full spectrum (continuous) source of illumination in the ultraviolet region is needed. The origin of the continuum ultraviolet radiation which extends from around 160 nanometers to 400 nanometers arises not from the relatively simple process of decay of atomic excited states ("atomic emission") but instead from "molecular emission" processes, where radiative decay of excited states, in this case of molecular deuterium (D2) cause the effect. This effect is somewhat analogous to the visible light continuum molecular emission of sulfur lamps.
