Ultrasensitive isotope trace analyses with a magneto-optical trap.

Chen, CY; Li, YM; Bailey, K; O'Connor, TP; Young, L; Lu, Z · Science · 1999

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Laser manipulation of neutral atoms has been used to count individual krypton-85 and krypton-81 atoms present in a natural krypton gas sample with isotopic abundances in the range of 10(-11) and 10(-13), respectively. This method of isotope trace analysis is free of contamination from other isotopes and elements and can be applied to several different isotope tracers for a wide range of applications. The demonstrated detection efficiency is 1 x 10(-7). System improvements could increase the efficiency by many orders of magnitude.