Abstract
Separation of isotopes of barium has been accomplished by laser deflection of a single isotopic component of an atomic beam. With a tunable narrow linewidth dye laser, small differences in absorption frequency of different barium isotopes on the 6s2 1S0− 6s6p1P1 5536 Å resonance were exploited to deflect atoms of a single isotopic component of an atomic beam through an angle large enough to physically separate them from the atomic beam.
It is shown that the principal limitation on separation efficiency, the fraction of the desired isotopic component which can be separated, is determined by the branching ratio from the excited state into metastable states. In barium, repeated absorptions and emissions on the 5536 Å transition eventually result in decay from the 6s6p1P1 state to the metastable 6s5d1D2 state. This was observed to occur for all but 3% of the138Ba atoms. As a result, the efficiency of separation was about 0.7 for the 8 mrad atomic beam divergence employed. (Throughput was nearly 1 mg/day. No attempt was made to maximize this value.)
The isotopic purity of the separated atoms was measured to be in excess of 0.9, limited only by instrumental uncertainty. The effects of near resonant atomic scattering and excitation exchange on isotopic purity are considered.
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The research equipment and materials designated by brand name in this paper are for identification purposes only, and do not imply the endorsement of the identified equipment and materials by the University of California or the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration to the exclusion of any other equipment or materials made by other manufacturers which may be equally well suited to the purposes of the work reported
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Bernhardt, A.F. Isotope separation by laser deflection of an atomic beam. Appl. Phys. 9, 19–34 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00901905
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00901905