Abstract
Over the last three years, Ontario Hydro Research Division has been developing a process for separation of tritium from water based on the selective dissociation of tritium bearing trifluoromethane by a CO2 laser. A fundamental concern in the design of a commercially viable process based on this technology is the design of the laser dissociation cell. In a related project on terium separation, efficient cell designs wen developed where large volumes of gas could . . exposed to the optimal fluence for dissociation by means of aspheric mirrors in a multipass configuration.1 Unfortunately, in the tritium separation work, a solution of this kind is precluded by the high fluence required to dissociate tritiated trifiuoromethane (65 J/cm2), which exceeds the damage threshold of all known mirror materials. To provide an extended region of high fluence where dissociation of tritiated trifluoromethane can take place with high efficiency, the use of a waveguide to confine the laser radiation was proposed. Subsequent experiments confirmed the utility of this concept.2 Computer modeling work on the design of optimal waveguide-based dissociation cells is recounted.
© 1986 Optical Society of America
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