Sulfur isotope enrichment by dissociative electron attachment

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Abstract
A mechanism is proposed for sulfur isotope enrichment experiments with lasers combining the selective vibrational heating capabilities of the laser with the electron attachment properties of the SF6 molecule. It is suggested that isotope enrichment may be achieved by selective vibrational heating of one isotopic molecule by the laser, followed by its dissociative electron capture and subsequent removal from the mixture. A reasonable estimate for the extent of selective vibrational heating, together with a slight extrapolation of the known temperature dependence for the SF−5/SF6− branching ratio, indicates that enrichment ratios of the order of 4500 may be achievable by this process.