Device for isotope separation by ion cyclotron resonance

Device for isotope separation by ion cyclotron resonance, said device comprising:

• a tight enclosure (2) having an elongated shape in one direction,
• means (4) for forming a vacuum in said enclosure,
• means (6) for producing a homogeneous magnetic field in the central part of the enclosure and parallel to said direction,
• a plasma source (8) for producing in the enclosure a plasma containing ions of the isotope to be separated,
• means (10) for producing in the central part of the enclosure an electric field perpendicular to the magnetic field and oscillating at a frequency close to the ion cyclotron frequency of the isotope to be separated, which is adjusted as a function of the mass of said isotope to be separated and
• collection means (12) for recovering on the one hand a mixture enriched with said isotope and on the other a mixture depleted with said isotope,
• characterized in that the enclosure (2) is positioned in a vertical direction and therefore has a so-called lower part and a so-called upper part, the magnetic field then being vertical, in that the collection means (12) are placed in the upper part of the enclosure and in that plasma source (8) is placed in the lower part of the enclosure and comprises:
• an electrically conductive container (14) having an opening facing the upper part of the enclosure and which contains the element (20) whose isotope is to be separated, said container being provided so that at least its outer part remains solid during the operation of the device,
• means (18) for ionizing atoms of the element and
• maintaining means (16), which maintain during said operation part of the content of the container in the vicinity of its bottom at an operating temperature able to bring about the melting of the element or its sublimation, whilst leaving the upper part of the container at a temperature below the melting point of the element.