Journal
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Volume 7, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/srep43852
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Funding
- Pennsylvania State University Environmental Health and Safety Program
- Pennsylvania State University Radiation Science and Engineering Center
- Consortium for Verification Technology under U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration [DE-NA0002534]
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security [2012.05 DN-130-NF0001]
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The ability to perform not only elementally but also isotopically sensitive detection and analysis at standoff distances is impor-tant for remote sensing applications in diverse ares, such as nuclear nonproliferation, environmental monitoring, geophysics, and planetary science. We demonstrate isotopically sensitive real-time standoff detection of uranium by the use of femtosecond filament-induced laser ablation molecular isotopic spectrometry. A uranium oxide molecular emission isotope shift of 0.05 +/- 0.007 nm is reported at 593.6 nm. We implement both spectroscopic and acoustic diagnostics to characterize the properties of uranium plasma generated at different filamenturanium interaction points. The resulting uranium oxide emis-sion exhibits a nearly constant signal-to-background ratio over the length of the filament, unlike the uranium atomic and ionic emission, for which the signal-to-background ratio varies significantly along the filament propagation. This is explained by the different rates of increase of plasma density and uranium oxide density along the filament length resulting from spectral and temporal evolution of the filament along its propagation. The results provide a basis for the optimal use of filaments for standoff detection and analysis of uranium isotopes and indicate the potential of the technique for a wider range of remote sensing applications that require isotopic sensitivity.
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