Laser resonant ionization of plutonium

Resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) has been tested for the isotope-selective determination of trace amounts of plutonium. An atomic beam is formed by evaporating plutonium atoms from a rhenium-filament heated to 1800 °C. The radiation of a pulsed dye laser excites the atoms in a two-photon process (=595.2 nm) followed by photoionization of the excited atoms. Mass selectivity is obtained by use of a time-of-flight spectrometer. A resonant signal of²³⁹Pu was measured with 10¹³ atoms deposited on the filament.