Contrast ratio and separation factor in multiphoton dissociation of supercooled UF6 irradiated with multifrequency 16 μm Raman-laser radiation

In infrared multiphoton dissociation of supercooled UF6 irradiated with multifrequency para-H2 Raman laser beams, separation factors and contrast ratios were measured by selective multiphoton ionization of the photoproduct UF5 at 532 nm followed by time-of-flight mass spectrometric analysis. The relationship between separation factor and contrast ratio is discussed theoretically and quantitatively investigated in the experiments. From this relationship, we obtain the irradiation conditions of the laser-beam fluences for attaining a high separation factor and estimate the value of the intrinsic separation factor in multifrequency dissociation of UF6. (orig.)