13C isotope separation using multiphoton excitation of carbon monoxide

We report a possible means to selectively isolate 13C from carbon monoxide (CO) exploiting multiphoton dissociation near 199 nm. At λ=199.363 nm we observed mass spectra with greater than 95% 13C+ ions produced from CO with normal isotopic abundance. The technique of velocity map ion imaging was applied to explore this effect. The complete mechanism for the 13C+ detection reads as follows:CO(X1Σ+)+hν→CO(a3Π1), CO(a3Π1)+hν→C(1D2)+O(3P0), C(1D2)+hν→C(3P1), C(3P1)+hν→C++e−. o report the molecular constants for the CO h3Σ+ state for 12CO (ν00=100 385.5 cm−1,B=1.971 cm−1).