Fast chemical separations and laser mass spectrometry – tools for nuclear research

High efficiency laser resonance ionization of plutonium

Three-step resonance photoionization spectra of plutonium have been studied with Ti:Sapphire lasers for the development of efficient laser ionization schemes for ultra-trace analysis of Pu isotopes by resonance ionization mass spectrometry. We observed eighteen intermediate excited states of even parity in the energy range 35568-36701 [Formula: see text], thirteen of them have not been previously documented, and a larger number of high-lying excited states and autoionizing states of odd-parity between 48238 and 49510 [Formula: see text]. Three-color, three-photon ionization schemes via six intermediate states were evaluated under similar ion source operating conditions. This led to a highly efficient three-step scheme with an overall ionization efficiency of [Formula: see text], which is an order of magnitude improvement over the previously reported ionization efficiency for Pu.

Measurement of the laser resonance ionization efficiency for lutetium

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.