Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute

Youji Suzuki

Takashi Arisawa

Yoichiro Maruyama

Masaaki Kato

Koreyuki Shiba

Kazumi Iwamoto

A method is, herein, disclosed for separating a specific isotope from a mixture of isotopes by first irradiating the isotope mixture with a highly monochromatic laser light that resonates only with the energy level of the specific isotope so as to increase its chemical activity and then bombarding said specific isotope with a molecule containing highly reactive atoms so as to form a spatially separated compound rich in the specific isotope.

Method of separating isotopes

A process is, herein, disclosed for separating a particular isotope from a mixture of different isotopes by selective excitation and ionization of the particular isotope with a single laser beam, said process comprising heating the mixture, converting the resulting atomic vapor to a highly directional atomic beam by suitable means, causing said atomic beam to travel through a vacuum, crossing the atomic beam with a high-intensity laser beam having a specific wavelength, selectively exciting the particular isotope with a first photon having that specific wavelength while the other isotopes remaining in the ground state, allowing the excited isotope to absorb a second photon to be excited to a virtual energy level, causing the so excited isotope to absorb a third photon to ionize said isotope, and recovering the ionized isotope by use of an electric or electromagnetic field.

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Ibaraki, Japan

Youji Suzuki