Search results for "isotope separation"
showing 10 items of 50 documents
Optimization of a laser ion source for $^{163}$Ho isotope separation
2019
To measure the mass of the electron neutrino, the “Electron Capture in Holmium-163” (ECHo) collaboration aims at calorimetrically measuring the spectrum following electron capture in 163Ho. The success of the ECHo experiment depends critically on the radiochemical purity of the 163Ho sample, which is ion-implanted into the calorimeters. For this, a 30 kV high transmission magnetic mass separator equipped with a resonance ionization laser ion source is used. To meet the ECHo requirements, the ion source unit was optimized with respect to its thermal characteristics and material composition by means of the finite element method thermal-electric calculations and chemical equilibrium simulation…
Measurement of the laser resonance ionization efficiency for lutetium
2019
Abstract The development of a highly efficient resonance ionization scheme for lutetium is presented. A laser ion source, based on the all-solid-state Titanium:sapphire laser system, was used at the 30 keV RISIKO off-line mass separator to characterize different possible optical excitation schemes in respect to their ionization efficiency. The developed laser resonance ionization scheme can be directly applied to the use at radioactive ion beam facilities, e. g. at the CERN-MEDICIS facility, for large-scale production of medical radioisotopes.
Highly efficient isotope separation and ion implantation of 163Ho for the ECHo project
2019
Abstract The effective electron neutrino mass measurement in the framework of the ECHo experiment requires radiochemically pure 163 Ho, which is ion implanted into detector absorbers. To meet the project specifications in efficiency and purity, the entire process chain of ionization, isotope separation , and implantation of 163Ho was optimized. A new two-step resonant laser ionization scheme was established at the 30 kV magnetic mass separator RISIKO. For ionization and separation, an average efficiency of 69 ( 5 ) stat(4)sys% was achieved using intra-cavity frequency doubled Ti:sapphire lasers. The implantation of undesired 166 m Ho, which is present in trace amounts in the initial 163Ho…
Cadmium mass measurements between the neutron shell closures at N=50 and 82
2010
International audience; The mass values of the neutron-deficient cadmium isotopes 99−109Cd and of the neutronrich isotopes 114,120,122−124,126,128Cd have been measured using ISOLTRAP. The behavior of the separation energies of the cadmium isotopes from N = 50 to 82 is discussed.
Trace detection of plutonium by three-step photoionization with a laser system pumped by a copper vapor laser
1985
Laser photoionization has been used to detect trace amounts of plutonium. A high sensitivity and selectivity has been achieved by applying three-step excitation and ionization of the plutonium atoms with high pulse-repetition rates and additional mass determination by time-of-flight measurements. A laser system was developed which consists of a copper vapor laser pumping three dye lasers simultaneously. Samples containing between 1010 and 1012 atoms of239Pu on Re filaments were measured yielding strong resonance signals with maximum ion count rates of several kHz at a vanishingly low background. A detection efficiency of 10−7 was determined allowing the detection of about 108 plutonium atom…
Isotope selective ultratrace analysis of plutonium by resonance ionisation mass spectrometry
2006
Abstract Resonance ionisation mass spectrometry (RIMS) is a sensitive and selective method for isotopically resolved ultratrace analysis of long-lived radionuclides. For the routine analysis of plutonium three titanium–sapphire lasers pumped by a pulsed Nd:YAG laser in combination with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer are used. The detection limit of this system is as low as 106–107 atoms for the plutonium isotopes 238Pu to 244Pu. The RIMS technique was applied to investigate the isotopic composition and the content of plutonium in a depleted uranium penetrator as used during the Balkan conflict delivering important information on the origin of the depleted uranium in this type of ammunit…
Determination of trace elements by resonant ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS)
1988
A resonant ionization mass spectrometer has been developed as an analytical tool for the detection of trace elements, especially of plutonium and other radionuclides. The sample, deposited on a rhenium filament, is evaporated by electrical heating and the atoms of the element under investigation are selectively ionized by laser light delivered from three dye lasers pumped by a copper vapour laser. The resulting photoions are detected in a time-of-flight spectrometer with a channelplate detector. For plutonium a mass resolution of M/δM=1500 was obtained and an overall detection efficiency of 4×10−6 was determined for stepwise excitation and ionization via autoionizing states. With a laser li…
Bipolar electrolysis for tritium recovery from weakly active tritiated water
2001
Abstract Detritiation facilities produce low activity tritiated water from which tritium cannot be recovered. Bipolar electrolysis, based on the electrochemical permeation of hydrogen and its isotopes through Pd–Ag alloy membranes, allows tritiated water enrichment together with negligible gaseous tritium release. Our purpose is to enrich water from 500 Ci/l (1.85×1013 Bq/l) to more than 2000 Ci/l (7.40×1013 Bq/l). We first describe the principle of bipolar electrolysis and its application to isotopic enrichment. The experimental part of this work consists of the determination of the isotopic separation factors. From these experimental values, we simulated the working of an operational cell…
Production of neutron deficient rare isotope beams at IGISOL; on-line and off-line studies
2004
This article reports on recent on-line yield measurements employing the light-ion and heavy-ion reaction-based ion guide systems and new results on a-recoil ion transport properties in ion guides with and without electric fields. In addition, the presently used ion guide designs for fusion evaporation reactions are introduced. The present study investigated different schemes for ion extraction from the gas cell. The addition of an extra ring electrode between the traditional skimmer electrode and the exit hole led to transmission independent of the primary beam intensity as opposed to strong intensity dependence observed earlier with the plain skimmer only. Furthermore, the mass resolving p…
Performance of the on-line isotope separation facility HELIOS at the Mainz reactor
1981
Abstract The helium-jet on-line isotope eparation facility HELIOS is in operation at the Mainz reactor for spectroscopic studies on mass separated neutron-rich nuclides far from the line of beta-stability. The basic features and achievements of the facility are reported. A total of 45 isotopes of the elements Rb, Sr, Y, Sn, Sb, Te, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Pr and Nd have been separated and identified so far. Overall efficiencies up to 2% have been obtained using the integrated skimmer ion source arrangement either in a hollow cathode or in a high temperature surface ionization mode. The delay time for the HELIOS system was determined to be about 1 s.