Boron isotope enrichment in nanosecond pulsed laser-ablation plume

Boron isotopic enrichment is observed in the laser ablation of B4C target using nanosecond (ns) wide 532nm laser beam of a Nd-YAG laser. B-10/B-11 ratio of 0.9 against the natural abundance of 0.25 is obtained at a laser power density of 8 x 10(8) W/cm(2) (fluence of 6.4 j/cm(2)). The enrichment as a function of laser power density is demonstrated using a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Apart from higher enrichment factor, only singly charged ions are found in the laser plume from the B4C target, in contrast to the multiply charged ions from the BN target reported in a recent report using femtosecond (fs) laser pulses. This study indicates the possibility of using less expensive, widely used ns lasers, which can also yield a higher throughput per pulse than a fs laser for isotope enrichment.