Laser isotope separation of ¹⁷⁶Lu through off-the-shelf lasers

We propose a novel and simple method for the laser isotope separation of ¹⁷⁶Lu a precursor for the production of ¹⁷⁷Lu medical isotope. The physics of the laser-atom interaction has been studied through the dynamics of the atomic level populations using the density matrix formalism. It has been shown that a combination of cw excitation lasers and pulsed ionization laser can be used for the laser isotope separation of ¹⁷⁶Lu. The optimum conditions for the efficient and selective separation of ¹⁷⁶Lu have been derived by studying the time evolution of level population under laser excitation. It has also been shown that, it might be possible to produce ~ 100% enriched ¹⁷⁶Lu isotope at a rate of 5 mg/h, which is higher than all previously reported methods so far. The isotope separation process proposed can be easily adopted using off-the-shelf lasers, for similar atomic systems.