Patent ID: 7535006

Claim:
An apparatus for determining the relative amounts of uranium isotopes in uranium hexafluoride gas comprising: a thermally stabilized tunable diode laser, wherein the diode laser emits a laser radiation wherein the laser radiation is split into a first beam, a second beam, and a third beam; a sample channel wherein the first beam of laser radiation is directed through said sample channel containing a sample gas to be received by a first photodetector; a first calibration channel wherein the second beam of laser radiation is directed through said first calibration channel containing a calibration reference gas to be received by a second photodetector, wherein the reference gas is methane, acetylene, or a mixture of methane and acetylene; a second calibration channel wherein the third beam of laser radiation is directed through said second calibration channel to be received by a third photodetector; a signal processing circuit wherein the signal processing circuit receives a first output signal from the first photodetector and a second output signal from the second photodetector and a third output signal from the third photodetector; wherein the signal processing circuit calculates relative amounts of isotopes in the sample gas, wherein the signal processing circuit isolates the absorption spectrum of uranium hexafluoride from the absorption spectrum of any impurity and compares the uranium hexafluoride absorption spectrum of the sample gas to model absorption spectra of different uranium hexafluoride isotopes.