A method of successfully separating mercury isotopes by a photochemical process is described. The method involves the use of a monoisotopic resonance lamp as the source of light for the photochemical reaction. In this particular case a Hg198lamp was used to excite only the Hg198atoms. The excited Hg atoms react with water vapor to produce enriched mercuric oxide. In the first experiments an enrichment factor of 1.5 was obtained.The analysis of the isotopes was undertaken by the use of multilayer dielectric Fabryhyphen;Perot interferometers.
展开▼
