Ultrasensitive isotope trace analyses with a magneto-optical trap
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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Visual Detection of Multiple Nucleic Acids in a Capillary Array
Published on: November 15, 2017
1Physics Division, and Chemistry Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA.
Abstract:
Laser manipulation of neutral atoms has been used to count individual krypton-85 and krypton-81 atoms present in a natural krypton gas sample with isotopic abundances in the range of 10(-11) and 10(-13), respectively. This method of isotope trace analysis is free of contamination from other isotopes and elements and can be applied to several different isotope tracers for a wide range of applications. The demonstrated detection efficiency is 1 x 10(-7). System improvements could increase the efficiency by many orders of magnitude.
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