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Isotope separation of Potassium with a magneto-optical combined method

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Abstract

Due to the similar physical and chemical properties, isotopes are usually hard to separate. On the other hand, the isotope shifts are very well separated in a high-resolution spectrum, making them possible to be addressed individually by lasers, thus separated. Here we report such an isotope separation experiment with Potassium atoms. The isotopes are independently optical pumped to the desired spin states, and then separated with a Stern-Gerlach scheme. A micro-capillary oven is used to collimate the atomic beam, and a Halbach-type magnet array is used to deflect the desired atoms. Finally, the 40K is enriched by two orders of magnitude. This magneto-optical combined method provides an effective way to separate isotopes and can be extended to other elements if the relevant optical pumping scheme is feasible.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support from the National Key R&D Program of China under Grant No. 2018YFA0307200, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 12074337, the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province under Grant Nos. LR21A040002 and LZ18A040001, Zhejiang Province Plan for Science and Technology No. 2020C01019, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under Grant Nos. 2020XZZX002-05 and 2021FZZX001-02.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Center of Quantum Information, State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, and Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Quantum Technology and Device of Physics Department, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Zixuan Zeng, Shangjin Li & Bo Yan

Authors
  1. Zixuan Zeng
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  2. Shangjin Li
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  3. Bo Yan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bo Yan.

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This article can also be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-021-1129-y.

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Zeng, Z., Li, S. & Yan, B. Isotope separation of Potassium with a magneto-optical combined method. Front. Phys. 17, 32502 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-021-1129-y

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