Plasma mass separator using ponderomotive forces

摘要

A device for separating high-mass ions (having cyclotron frequency &OHgr;_h) from low-mass ions (having cyclotron frequency &OHgr;_l) in a plasma includes a chamber. Coils are provided to generate a substantially uniform magnetic field in the chamber. An antenna is provided to launch a left-hand elliptically polarized electromagnetic wave into the chamber along the stationary magnetic field that is evanescent in the multi-species plasma. Importantly, the E vector of the elliptically polarized electromagnetic wave rotates at a frequency, &ohgr;, where &OHgr;_h&ohgr;&OHgr;_l. Ponderomotive forces are generated by the electromagnetic wave that cause the low-mass ions to move toward the antenna while causing the high-mass ions to move away from the antenna.