Isotope separation by laser deflection of an atomic beam

Anthony F. Bernhardt, D. E. Duerre, J. R. Simpson +1 more

Spatial separation of isotopes of barium in an atomic beam has been demonstrated, using radiation pressure of light from a tunable dye laser which resolved the unusually narrow isotopic hyperfine structure of the Ba (I) 5535.7-Å resonance line. Observations of the deflected monoisotopic beam indicate an average of 25 photons scattered per atom in the deflected beam.

M. Jerkins, Isaac Chavez, Mark G. Raizen

Min Zhou, Xinye Xu

Isotope separation by laser deflecting an atomic beam is analyzed theoretically. Interacting with a tilted one-dimensional optical molasses, an ytterbium atomic beam is split into multi-beams with different isotopes like 172 Yb, 173 Yb, and 174 Yb. By using the numerical calculation, the dependences of the splitting angle on the molasses laser intensity and detuning are studied, and the optimal parameters for the isotope separation are also investigated. Furthermore, the isotope separation efficiency and purity are estimated. Finally a new scheme for the efficient isotope separation is proposed. These findings will give a guideline for simply obtaining pure isotopes of various elements.

Juha Javanainen

Liang Liu, Yuzhu Wang

The radiation pressure produced by two-laser fields on a two-level atom is obtained. These results show that the radiation pressure produced by two-laser fields with appropriate detunings with atom is much greater than that produced by a single-laser field. This great radiation pressure is possible to be applied to isotope separation by laser deflection of an atomic beam.

Dimitrios Charalambidis, Natalia E. Karapanagioti, O. Faucher +1 more