JPH062216B2 - Electrode structure for isotope separation - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an electrode structure for isotope separation of metal atoms by a laser method.

(Conventional technology) The separation and concentration technology of metal atom isotopes using the laser method has a very high separation efficiency as compared with the conventional gas diffusion method, nozzle method, chemical exchange method, centrifugation method, etc., and forms a cascade. It is said that it is not necessary.

By the way, an atomic method using metal atoms is known as a method for concentrating and separating isotopes by the laser method.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram conceptually showing an example of a metal atom concentrating device by a laser method in an atomic method.

That is, reference numeral 1 in FIG. 4 denotes a container of a concentrating device, in which a metal melting crucible 3 accommodating a metal atom 2 to be separated is arranged, and the metal atom 2 is supplied with an electron beam or the like. When the atomic beam 4 is generated by evaporation by the surface heating by the irradiation of, the atomic beam 4 advances upward. In this atomic beam 4, one isotope atom 5 and the other isotope atom 6 are mixed.
Therefore, the selective excitation laser 7 having a frequency corresponding to the absorption line of one isotope atom 5 in the atomic beam 4 is irradiated. Only the one isotope atom 5 to be separated is excited by this selective excitation laser light.

Next, the ionization laser 8 for ionizing the excited isotope atom is irradiated. These two types of lasers 7 and 8 ionize one isotope atom 5 in the atomic beam 4 for the purpose of separation, and change it into positive ions 9.

Now, when an electric field is created in the atomic beam 4 containing this ion by using the ground electrode 10 and the cathode 11, only the positive ions 9 of the ionized isotope atom are electrostatically attracted to the cathode 11, and finally. Are adsorbed on the surface of the cathode 11.

On the other hand, the other non-ionized isotope neutral atom 6 goes straight without being affected by this electric field and is collected and recovered by the neutral atom collection plate 12.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the method of separating isotopes, it is necessary to continuously collect the isotope atoms attached to the recovery cathode 11 in order to operate the apparatus efficiently such as continuously operating the apparatus. is there. A liquid recovery method is used for the continuous recovery method, but as shown in FIG. 4, the cathode 11 is arranged in parallel with the atomic beam 4 evaporated from the crucible 3. Therefore, according to such a recovery method, the recovered isotope atom falls downward and is returned to the inside of the crucible 3, and the recovery is impossible.

That is, in the recovery, a certain amount of isotope atoms were attached to the cathode 11, and then the metal atoms attached to the cathode 11 were recovered by taking them out of the container 1.

However, as described above, the recovery cathode 1 is placed outside the container 1.
It is necessary to stop the operation of the apparatus each time by taking out 1, and there is a problem that the operation efficiency of the apparatus is lowered.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide an electrode structure for isotope separation which has a configuration in which liquid-state metal atoms can be continuously recovered and the apparatus can be continuously operated for a long time.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) Metal atoms are evaporated by surface heating by irradiation with a high-energy beam, an atom beam is generated, and the atom beam is irradiated with a laser to ionize the isotope metal atom. In the isotope separation electrode structure to be recovered, a gutter is provided at the lower end of the cathode for recovering the isotope metal atom, and the gutter is provided with an inclination in one direction, and the width of this gutter is set to the advancing direction of the atomic beam. It is an electrode structure for isotope separation, characterized in that the direction is selected so as not to be in contact with the cathode.

Further, another gutter for accumulating recovered metal atoms is provided at the lower end of the gutter.

(Function) In order to maintain the liquid state, the gold atom attached to the recovery cathode is heated to a temperature higher than the melting point of the metal atom and caused to flow. The flowing metal atoms flow under the cathode due to gravity, and the flowing liquid metal atoms are collected in the gutter provided at the lower end of the cathode.

This gutter is provided all over the lower end of the cathode, and the gutter is provided with a downward slope and is simultaneously heated by being integrated with the cathode,
The liquid metal atoms collected in the gutter are collected and collected at one end due to the gradient of the gutter.

(Example) An example of the isotope separation electrode structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. 2 is a perspective view of the cathode portion of FIG. 1, and the same parts as those of FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals in each drawing.

That is, in FIG. 1, a gutter 13 is provided at the lower end of the cathode 11.
Is provided, and the gutter 13 has a downward slope and is inclined in one direction as shown in FIG. Cathode 1
1 and the ground electrode 10 are alternately arranged, and the gutter 13
Another gutter 14 is provided below the end of the gutter, and a collection container 15 is arranged below both ends of the other gutter 14.

Then, when the electrode structure is placed in the container 1 shown in FIG. 4, the surface of the metal atom 2 in the crucible 3 is heated to a point or a line by irradiation of a high energy beam (not shown) such as an electron beam, The metal atoms 2 become an atomic beam 4 and evaporate. By irradiating the atomic beam 4 with the lasers 7 and 8, the atomic vapor is ionized, and only the target isotope metal atom is ionized, and the positive ion 9 advances between the ground electrode 10 and the recovery cathode 11. . At this time, due to the electric field between the both electrodes 10 and 11, only the isotope atom plus ions 9 are electrostatically attached to the cathode 11 to become liquid metal atoms 16.

Here, since the recovery cathode 11 is heated to the melting point of the metal atom 2 or higher, the attached metal atom becomes a liquid state,
As it is deposited, it flows down along the surface of the cathode 11 due to its own weight. The liquid metal atoms 16 that have flowed down are collected as droplets in the gutter 13 and are collected at one end of the cathode 11 by its own weight due to the downward gradient of the gutter 13.

Then, the liquid metal atom 16 moves from the end of the gutter 13 to the other gutter 1
4, it flows along the down slope of the gutter 14 and is finally collected in the collecting container 15. This collection container 1
5 is carried out from the container 1 of the apparatus at every system operation time for a certain period.

In this way, the metal atoms attached to and recovered from the recovery cathode 11 are continuously recovered.

In addition, the structure according to the present invention simultaneously performs the recovery operation described below.

That is, the positive ion 9 of the isotope atom and the isotope neutral atom 6 enter between the ground electrode 10 and the cathode 11, but when the neutral atom 6 also directly collides with the cathode 11, the positive ion 9 is generated. Similarly, it will adhere. This phenomenon undesirably lowers the concentration of liquid metal atoms to be recovered. Therefore, by selecting the width L of the gutter provided at the lower end of the cathode 11 so that atomic vapor, that is, each isotope atom 5 and 6 does not directly contact the cathode 11 from the evaporation direction of the atomic beam 4, The direction of 11 can be controlled, and the metal atoms can be recovered without lowering the concentration of the metal atoms to be recovered.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the gutter 13 is integrally provided at the lower end of the cathode 11 and both of them 11 and 13 are heated to collect the metal atoms attached in a liquid state and continuously. be able to.

Further, by selecting the width L of the trough 13, it is possible to prevent collisional attachment of neutral atoms, that is, the other isotope atom 6 to the cathode 11, thereby preventing the concentration of metal atoms to be recovered from being lowered. You can

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description of the overlapping parts will be omitted.

This embodiment is different from FIG. 2 in that the cathode 11 is bent from substantially the central portion to form a bent portion 17, and the lower end portion is formed with an inclined surface 18 having a large downward slope from the central portion to the end portion. There is something I did.

In this embodiment, there is an effect that the metal atoms to be recovered can be recovered very efficiently, and other functions and effects are the same as those in the embodiment shown in FIG.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, the isotope atom plus ions attached to the recovery cathode can be continuously recovered, so that the operating efficiency of the isotope separation device can be improved. Further, since the gutter is integrally provided on the cathode, the gutters can be simultaneously heated to the same temperature. Furthermore, since the isotope neutral atoms that collide with and adhere to the cathode can be reduced by the width L of the gutter, it is possible to prevent the concentration of the recovered metal atoms from being reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of an electrode structure for isotope separation according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example, and FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view conceptually showing a conventional isotope separation device. 1 ………… Container 2 ………… Metal atom 3 ………… Crucible 4 ………… Atom beam 5 ………… One isotope 6 ………… The other isotope 7 ………… Excitation laser 8 ………… Ionization laser 9 ………… Positive ion 10 ……… Ground electrode 11 ……… Cathode 12 ……… Neutral atom collection plate 13 ……… Gutter 14 ……… Other gutter 15 ……… Collection container 16 ……… Liquid Metal atom 17 ... Bending part, inclined surface

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electrode structure for isotope separation in which metal atoms are vaporized by heat of surface formation by irradiation with a high energy beam, an atom beam is generated, and the atom beam is irradiated with a laser to ionize and recover isotope metal atoms. , A gutter is provided at the lower end of the cathode for recovering the isotope metal atoms, and the gutter has an inclination in one direction, and the width of the gutter is not the direction in which the traveling direction of the atomic beam is in contact with the cathode. An electrode structure for isotope separation characterized by being selected as follows. 2. The electrode structure for isotope separation according to claim 1, wherein another gutter for accumulating recovered metal atoms is provided at a lower end of the gutter. 3. The cathode is bent from a substantially central portion,
The electrode structure for isotope separation according to claim 1, wherein an inclined surface having a downward slope is formed at the lower end portion and a gutter is provided.