Selective laser ionisation of radionuclide 63Ni

We report a search for a scheme of selective laser stepwise ionisation of radionuclide ⁶³Ni by radiation of a dye laser pumped by a copper vapour laser. A three-stage scheme is found with ionisation through an autoionising state (AIS): 3d ⁸4s^{2 3}F₄(E = 0) → 3d ⁹4p¹F^o₃(31030.99 cm^-1) → 3d ⁹4d ²[7/2]₄(49322.56 cm^-1) → AIS(67707.61 cm^-1) which, by employing saturated radiation intensities provides the ionisation selectivity of above 1200 for ⁶³Ni.