An electromagnetic separation system for the enrichment of 39Ar

An isotope enrichment system for (39)Ar has been developed at the Institute of Modern Physics, which is designed to increase the abundance of (39)Ar in the incident sample gas. With intense Ar(+) beams produced by a 2.45 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion source and a high mass resolution spectrometer system, Ar isotopes are evidently separated on the target plane and selectively collected by an Al target. The separated Ar isotopes have been identified on the target plane, which is consistent with the simulations. According to the recent cross-checked results with atom trap trace analysis, a high enrichment factor of (39)Ar has been successfully achieved. This paper will present the design and test results of this system.