Abstract: A light source is disclosed which can be used in atomic absorption analysis using the Zeeman effect. In operation, an external magnetic field is applied to the hollow cathode of the light source to cause the Zeeman-splitting of an emission line from the cathode material. The hollow cathode is made of a ferromagnetic metal as which is the element of interest for analysis and a metal for reducing the magnetic shield of the externally applied magnetic field by the ferromagnetic metal so that the external magnetic field effectively acts on the hollow portion of the cathode to provide the desired Zeeman-splitting. The hollow cathode is designed such that the product of the saturation flux densities of the cathode materials and the volume thereof is equal to or smaller than 0.2(Wb.multidot.m).times.10.sup.-6. The emission line from the cathode material is produced by excitation from a high frequency power supply, the power supply being connected to the cathode and the anode of the light source.