A. P. Babichev, I. S. Grigoriev, A. I. Grigoriev, A. P. Dorovskii, A. B. D'yachkov, S. K. Kovalevich, V. A. Kochetov, V. A. Kuznetsov, V. P. Labozin, A. V. Matrakhov, S. M. Mironov, S. A. Nikulin, A. V. Pesnya, N. I. Timofeev, V. A. Firsov, G. O. Tsvetkov, G. G. Shatalova, “Development of the laser isotope separation method (AVLIS) for obtaining weight amounts of highly enriched <sup>150</sup>Nd isotope”, Kvantovaya Elektronika, 2005, Volume 35, Number 10,Pages <nobr>879

This article is cited in 37 papers

Invited paper

Development of the laser isotope separation method (AVLIS) for obtaining weight amounts of highly enriched ¹⁵⁰Nd isotope

A. P. Babichev, I. S. Grigoriev, A. I. Grigoriev, A. P. Dorovskii, A. B. D'yachkov, S. K. Kovalevich, V. A. Kochetov, V. A. Kuznetsov, V. P. Labozin, A. V. Matrakhov, S. M. Mironov, S. A. Nikulin, A. V. Pesnya, N. I. Timofeev, V. A. Firsov, G. O. Tsvetkov, G. G. Shatalova

Russian Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute", Moscow

Abstract: Results obtained at the first stage of development of the experimental technique for obtaining weight amounts of the highly enriched ¹⁵⁰Nd isotope by laser photoionisation are presented. The vaporiser and the laser are designed, and various methods of irradiation of neodymium vapour and extraction of photoions are tested. The product yield ~40 mg h^-1 for the ~60% enrichment and 25 mg h^-1 for the ~65% enrichment is achieved for a vaporiser of length 27 cm. The cost of constructing the facility for preparing 50 kg of the ¹⁵⁰Nd isotope, intended for determining the neutrino mass, is estimated. This estimate shows that the cost of production can be lowered by a factor of 5–7 compared to the electromagnetic method.

PACS: 28.60.+s, 42.62.Cf

Received: 25.03.2005
Revised: 18.08.2005