Abstract

The technique of resonance ionization spectroscopy (RIS) was extended to develop a means for counting each individual atom of a selected isotope of a noble gas. The experimental schematic is shown in Fig. ThII5-l. The concept for counting krypton atoms with isotopic selectivity is to utilize a laser for ionizing krypton atoms and a quadrupole mass spectrometer for isotope separation. The laser scheme for excitation and ionization of krypton is shown in Fig. ThII5-2. A four-wave mixing scheme was used to generate a 116.5-nm laser beam with an energy of 500 nJ/pulse, Thus, krypton atoms could be efficiently excited by resonance radiation and subsequently ionized.

© 1984 Optical Society of America