A Device for Separating Stable Isotopes in a Plasma Using the Ion-Cyclotron Resonance Method

• Published in: Instruments and experimental techniques (New York) 2022-10, Vol.65 (5), p.766-773
• Main Author: Potanin, E. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cyclotron resonance; Electrical Engineering; Electron beams; Evaporation; Gadolinium; General Experimental Techniques; Heating; Ions; Lithium isotopes; Magnetic fields; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Microwaves; Physical Chemistry; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Radiation; Vacuum chambers; Waveguides
• ISSN: 0020-4412; 1608-3180
• DOI: 10.1134/S0020441222050086

— A device for separating stable isotopes based on ion cyclotron resonance is described. The main longitudinal magnetic field is created by a superconducting magnetic system. The plasma source, the zone of selective heating, and ion collectors are located in a vacuum chamber inside the “warm” hole in the cryostat. Atoms of the evaporated substance are ionized inside the source by heating electrons in the microwave radiation field. The microwave radiation is transported to the ionization zone of the ECR discharge using a waveguide and a mirror. An RF antenna is used for selective heating of the target isotope ions. It is proposed for the first time that an electron beam propagating from the side opposite to the source zone be used for heating and evaporation of the working substance (gadolinium or other materials). Evaporation occurs in a refractory crucible that is heated by a powerful electron beam. The originality of the design consists in placing the collector of heated particles in the zone of the attenuated magnetic field of the device. The characteristics of the heated-ion collector located in the attenuated-field zone are estimated. The results of the analysis are compared to the experimental data on the separation of lithium isotopes.