Isotope enrichment for improved magnetic materials
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorGerald P. Uyeno
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Abstract
A method for producing a magnetic material includes: selecting a mixture of isotopes of a chemical element having a desired magnetic characteristic; identifying an isotope in the mixture of isotopes meeting a selection criterion; removing the identified isotope from the mixture of isotopes using an isotope separation device to produce an enriched mixture of isotopes having a decreased concentration of the identified isotope; wherein the enriched mixture of isotopes is the magnetic material.
Claims25
A method for producing a magnetic material that maintains a selected magnetic field strength after being exposed to a radiation, the method comprising:
- selecting a mixture of isotopes of a chemical element having a desired magnetic characteristic;
- identifying an isotope in the mixture of isotopes meeting a selection criterion, wherein the selection criterion comprises the isotope reacting to the radiation to produce a byproduct that causes loss of magnetization of the mixture of isotopes;
- removing the identified isotope from the mixture of isotopes using an isotope separation device to produce an enriched mixture of isotopes having a decreased concentration of the identified isotope;
- wherein the enriched mixture of isotopes is the magnetic material that maintains the selected magnetic field strength after being exposed to the radiation.
A magnet comprising a desired magnetic characteristic, the magnet comprising a mixture of isotopes of a chemical element, wherein a concentration of at least one isotope which reacts to a radiation to produce a byproduct that causes loss of magnetization of the mixture of isotopes in the plurality of isotopes is reduced from a natural abundance of that at least one isotope to produce an enriched mixture of isotopes in the magnet;
- wherein the enriched mixture of isotopes is a magnetic material that maintains a selected magnetic field strength after being exposed to the radiation.
A radiation-hardened sensor for sensing a property, the sensor comprising:
- a magnet configured to provide a magnetic field for sensing the property, the magnet comprising a mixture of isotopes of a chemical element, wherein a concentration of at least one isotope in the mixture of isotopes is reduced from a natural abundance of that at least one isotope to produce an enriched mixture of isotopes in the magnet;
- wherein a selection criterion for the reduction of the concentration of at least one isotope comprises the at least one isotope reacting to a radiation to produce a byproduct that causes loss of magnetization of the mixture of isotopes;
- and wherein the enriched mixture of isotopes is a magnetic material that maintains a selected magnetic field strength after being exposed to the radiation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.