Maximization of yield of C-13 isotope by multiphoton dissociation of Freon-22 using high average power TEA CO2 laser

Abstract

Selective multi-photon dissociation (MPD) of Freon-22 (CF2HC1) molecules has been carried out using a TEA CO2 laser at various CO2 laser lines (9P(20)-9P(26)) in order to maximize the yield of C-13 isotope in the product (C2F4) at an enrichment factor of 100. The effects of laser pulse tail due to the presence of N2 in the laser mixture on the enrichment factor and yield of C-13 are investigated. It is found that the addition of a small amount of N2 is possible in the laser mixture without a significant drop in the yield at desired enrichment factor. Addition of a small amount of N2 improves the laser efficiency considerably. At a given pulse energy, a slight change in the near field intensity distribution of a laser severely affects the selectivity of C-13 isotope. The computed far-field intensity distributions of the measured near-field intensities show marked spatial variation in the focal spots that leads to a drop in selectivity. For macroscopic production of C-13 isotope a simple and novel multi-pass cavity has been designed and tested to focus the energy repeatedly keeping the optimum fluence constant at each focal spot.