molecular laser isotope separation

…known generically as MLIS (molecular laser isotope separation)—or commercially as SILEX (separation of isotopes by laser excitation)—gaseous UF₆ is exposed to high-powered lasers tuned to the correct frequencies to cause the molecules containing ²³⁵U (but not ²³⁸U) to lose electrons. In this (ionized) form, the ²³⁵U-containing molecules are separated…

…is the element itself; in molecular laser isotope separation (MLIS), the starting material is a chemical compound containing the element. Ordinary light sources are not suitable for isotope separation because they emit a broad range of frequencies that excites all the isotopes of an element. For this reason, the large-scale…