On scaling up of carbon isotopes’ enrichment by infrared laser chemistry of CF2HCl

Validation studies for C-13 enrichment with a 10 W pulsed CO2 laser gave rise to somewhat different results for the conversion compared to those obtained with a 0.5 W laser under identical experimental conditions. Theoretical simulation of the reaction volume for both the cases indicated that the apparent discrepancy was due to a slight difference in cell windows’ absorption for the two lasers, beam waist dimensions and the net resultant fluence gradient the sample was exposed to.