The separation of isotopes in space and time by gas-surface atomic diffraction is presented as a new means for isotopic enrichment. A supersonic beam of natural abundance neon is scattered from a periodic surface of methyl-terminated silicon, with the ^{20}Ne and ^{22}Ne isotopes scattering into unique diffraction channels. Under the experimental conditions presented in this Letter, a single pass yields an enrichment factor 3.50±0.30 for the less abundant isotope, ^{22}Ne, with extension to multiple passes easily envisioned. The velocity distribution of the incident beam is demonstrated to be the determining factor in the degree of separation between the isotopes' diffraction peaks. In cases where there is incomplete angular separation, the difference in arrival times of the two isotopes at a given scattered angle can be exploited to achieve complete temporal separation of the isotopes. This study explores the novel application of supersonic molecular beam studies as a viable candidate for separation of isotopes without the need for ionization or laser excitation.
We propose a general and scalable 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, which demonstrate this technique's general applicability to almost the entire periodic table. 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.