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

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.