Stable Isotope Production of¹⁶⁸Yb and¹⁷⁶Yb for Industrial and Medical Applications

Abstract

We have developed a laser isotope separation technology for the production of the 168 Yb and 176 Yb isotopes. 168 Yb is very useful for the generation of a non destructive testing source, 169 Yb. 176 Yb can be used to produce 177 Lu which is known to be a promising radioisotope for a medical application. For these applications, the abundances of 168 Yb and 176 Yb isotopes should be enriched to more than 15% and 97%, respectively. Our developed system consists of three dye lasers pumped by a diode-pumped solid-state laser, a Yb evaporator, and a photo-ion extractor. Up to now, we could enrich 168 Yb to more than 31% with a productivity of 0.5 mg/h. Also, we succeeded in enriching 176 Yb to more than 97% with a productivity of 27 mg/h.

Исследование схемы селективной фотоионизации -=SUP=-177-=/SUP=-Lu

“…Очевидно, что для эффективного выделения изотопа с начальной концентрацией 10 −4 −10 −5 селективность процесса его ионизации должна превышать уровень 10 5 . Эксперименты по лазерной фотоионизации изотопов 150 Nd и 63 Ni [13,14], результаты лазерного выделения 176 Yb и 168 Yb [15] показывают, что для достижения уровня селективности 10 5 необходимо, чтобы возбуждение целевого изотопа было селективным на всех ступенях схемы фотоио-Таблица 2. Селективные схемы фотоионизации 177 Lu (по компонентам СТС).…”

Rare Earth Elements: therapeutic and diagnostic applications in modern medicine

“…Erbium-based lasers have been used in medical and dental practice [19] Tm A radioisotope Tm-167 has been used as power sources in portable X-ray devices [20] Yb A radioisotope Yb-176 can be used to produce Lu-177 which is known to be a promising radioisotope for a medical application [21]…”

Studies on the Optogalvanic Effect and Isotope-Selective Excitation of Ytterbium in a Hollow Cathode Discharge Lamp Using a Pulsed Dye Laser

“…Ytterbium is a lanthanide widely used in experiments involving Bose–Einstein condensation; 7 atomic clocks and frequency standards; 8 and industrial, medical, and nuclear applications. 9 It has seven isotopes, 168 Yb, 170 Yb, 171 Yb, 172 Yb, 173 Yb, 174 Yb, and 176 Yb, with the abundances 0.135, 3.03, 14.31, 21.82, 16.13, 31.84, and 12.73%, respectively. Out of these isotopes, 168 Yb and 176 Yb are of particular interest because of their important applications in nuclear and medical science.…”

“…These applications have led to considerable interest in spectroscopic studies and isotope separation of Yb. 9 Several species (atoms, ions, or molecules) have been studied in HC discharge lamps using both pulsed and CW dye lasers. 10–13 The first results of the pulsed OG effect were presented by Miron et al 11 for U and Ne in U/Ne HC lamp.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, for Yb, no OG studies using pulsed dye lasers are available in the literature, although successful laser isotope separation has been demonstrated in Yb atomic vapor source using pulsed dye lasers. 9,17 Hence, there is a general interest for studying the pulsed OG effect and isotope-selective excitations in Yb using a pulsed dye laser in a HC lamp.…”