Magnetically Activated and Guided Isotope Separation, 1st ed. 2016
Springer Theses Series

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Language: English

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This thesis describes a proof-of-principle experiment demonstrating a technique for stable isotope enrichment called Magnetically Activated and Guided Isotope Separation (MAGIS). Over the past century many enriched isotopes have become available, thanks largely to electromagnetic separators called calutrons. Due to substantial maintenance and operating costs, the United States decommissioned the last of its calutrons in 1998, leading to demand for alternative methods of isotope separation. The work presented here suggests the promise for MAGIS as a viable alternative to the calutrons.

The MAGIS technique combines optical pumping with a scalable magnetic field gradient to enrich atoms of a specific isotope in an atomic beam. Benchmarking this work against the calutron using lithium as a test case, the author demonstrated comparable enrichment in a manner that should scale to the production of similar quantities, while requiring vastly less energy input.

Introduction.- Application to Lithium - Experiment Overview.- Measurements.- Apparatus Scaling, Beyond Lithium, and Conclusions.
Dr Thomas Mazur is now with the School of Medicine, Washington University in St Louis, USA. He completed his PhD with Prof Mark Raizen at the University of Texas at Austin in 2014.

Nominated by the University of Texas at Austin, USA, as an outstanding Ph.D. thesis

Describes a novel technique for stable isotope enrichment with broad potential across many isotopes

Offers a detailed description of the proof-of-principle experimental setup and measurement analysis