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Chinese Physics B

Theoretical study on isotope separation of an ytterbium atomic beam by laser deflection

Min Zhou, Xinye Xu

Published Jan 1, 2014• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.1088/1674-1056/23/1/013202

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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.
Separation of Li isotopes by laser deflection of atomic beams has been carried out. An atomic beam apparatus with a collimating ratio of 450/1 generates are Li atomic beam of 10/sup 9/ atoms/cm/sup 3/ at the oven temperature of 600 /sup 0/C. The CW tunable dye laser crossing the atomic beam at a right angle has a linewidth of 6 MHz and its intensity as the I-cm interaction area is about 70 mW/cm/sup 2/. When the laser frequency is tuned to coincide with /sup 7/Li2/sup 2/P/sub 3/2/F = 3-2/sup 2/S/sub 1/2/ F = 2 transition, /sup 7/Li atoms are deflected from the beam. The deflected atoms are very pure /sup 7/Li and almost do not contain /sup 8/Li. When the laser frequency coincides with any other transition of 2/sup 2/P-2/sup 5/S of both /sup 5/Li and /sup 7/Li, no apparent deflection is observed because of the optical pumping of the hyperfine levels of the 2/sup 2/S/sub 1/2/ ground state.
The collimation of a thermal atomic ytterbium beam utilizing a two-dimensional optical molasses is analysed by employing the Monte Carlo simulation. The dependencies of the collimation efficiency on power, frequency detuning and beam size of the laser are studied for various conditions, especially for the case of an imbalanced laser intensity and an impure laser polarization. The influences of these imperfect factors are discussed, and the lowest transverse temperature by the collimation in the experiment is evaluated.
Density matrix formalism and rate equations are commonly employed to analyze and optimize system parameters in atomic vapor laser isotope separation (AVLIS) processes. However, in cases where coherent processes dominate over relaxation processes—as is the case with ytterbium (Yb)—the use of rate equations can lead to inaccurate or misleading results. In this work, we have compared the outcomes derived from the density matrix approach with recent results obtained using rate equations. The observed discrepancies have been analyzed, and the underlying causes discussed in detail. Furthermore, we have systematically investigated various system parameters to achieve optimal performance for the laser enrichment of the 176 Yb isotope. Under the optimized conditions, the system is capable of achieving an annual production of approximately 1.5 kg of 176 Yb enriched to >96%.
Selective photoionization of ytterbium isotope is studied numerically based on a three-step photoionization scheme, 4f146s2 1S0 (0 cm−1) → 4f146s6p 3P1 (17992.008 cm−1) → (4f136s26p) (7/2, 3/2)2 (35196.98 cm−1) → auto-ionization state (52353 cm−1) → Yb+, by the density matrix theory with the consideration of atomic hyperfine structures and magnetic sublevels. To examine the physical model, the numerical isotopic abundance of ytterbium is compared with that from mass spectroscopy experiment, showing that they are in good agreement with each other. The excitation process and ionization process of ytterbium, especially for odd isotopes, are discussed and analyzed in detail on this basis. The effects of frequency detuning, power densities, spectral bandwidths, polarization of two excitation lasers, and atomic Doppler broadening on the total ionization yield and isotopic abundance are investigated numerically and the optimal excitation conditions for 176Yb enrichment are identified semi-quantitatively.
Isotope separation is one of the grand challenges of modern society and holds great potential for basic science, medicine, energy, and defense. We consider here a new and general approach to isotope separation. The method is based on an irreversible change of the mass-to-magnetic moment ratio of a particular isotope in an atomic beam, followed by a magnetic multipole whose gradients deflect and guide the atoms. The underlying mechanism is a reduction of the entropy of the beam by the information of a single-scattered photon for each atom that is separated. We numerically simulate isotope separation for a range of examples, including lithium, for which we describe the experimental setup we are currently constructing. Simulations of other examples demonstrate this technique's general applicability to almost the entire periodic table. We show that the efficiency of the process is only limited by the available laser power, since one photon on average enables the separation of one atom. The practical importance of the proposed method is that large-scale isotope separation should be possible, using ordinary inexpensive magnets and the existing technologies of supersonic beams and lasers.