Laser photoionization detection of the rare isotope3He

Based on combination of the two-step collinear isotope-selective photoionization and time-of-flight separation of atoms in a fast modulated beam, a new technique has been developed for detecting the³He rare isotope with an isotopic selectivity of up to 10¹⁰. The technique helped to detect optically, for the first time,³He at a relative abundance of 4·10^–8.