Presenter(s): Piper Gray – Physics
Faculty Mentor(s): Michael Shaffer
Session: (Virtual) Oral Panel—Inner Space and Internet
This project examines the use of atom trap and trace analysis for measuring the proportion of radioactive Xenon isotopes to stable Xenon in an air sample. Radioactive Xenon is not naturally occurring, so the presence of radioactive Xenon indicates artificial nuclear fission activity. Xenon and its radioactive isotopes are typical by-products of all three major types of special nuclear material (SNM): plutonium, uranium-233, and uranium-235. It is also a by-product of nuclear reactors and medical applications. Each process produces radioactive Xenon at different concentrations, so it is essential to determine the exact proportion. The proposed method will trap individual atoms of Xenon using laser cooling and trapping technologies, and they will fluoresce as they relax from the excited state to the ground state. The frequency at which Xenon atoms are trapped and fluoresce is unique to specific isotopes and will be used to identify the atoms contained in an air sample. The laser frequencies which will trap the radioactive isotopes of Xenon are not yet identified. This project will determine these frequencies using atom trap and trace analysis (ATTA) assisted laser spectroscopy and scanning the laser across frequencies until the Xe radioisotope fluoresces. This process will augment the current methods and help determine the concentration of radioactive Xenon in the sample with greater precision.