ISSN:
1432-0630
Keywords:
82.50
;
32
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract Key spectral features important in the laser isotope separation of Uranium Hexafluoride are reviewed. Specifically the (v 3+v 4+v 6) band lying in the frequency range of the CO2 laser, the 3v 3 band which is covered by the CO laser, and the fundamentalv 3 band of UF6 are considered. Computer-calculated spectra show that the ternary combination bands (v 3+v 4+v 6) and 3v 3 are completely dominated by the solid Q-branches of some 300 to 1000 hot bands, but that the fundamentalv 3 band has structured P-and R-branches with peaks and holes, provided the pressure is below a few torr. Laser isotope separation can be achieved either on the isotope-shifted slopes of the Q-branches envelopes (“Q-slope method”) or on the coincidence of a peak and a hole in the P-or R-branches regions (“peak-hole method”). Room temperature experiments were carried out in 1972/1973, which used a CO2 laser with an internal U238F6 filter tube that forced lasing on what is believed to have been the P-16 line falling on the right-hand Q-slope of the (v 3+v 4+v 6) band of UF6. With a chemical reaction for final isotope separation, the measurements yielded a U-235 enrichment factor of about 1.1, in agreement with the maximum possible value of 1.5 for Q-slope operation and the fact that a high cut was used.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00929525
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