Lasers in materials processing

Abstract

We analyze the general requirements for an economicdy viable laser materials-processing application. Laser light is not only expensive relative to other forms of energy but at - $1O/kg of product for laser processing costs (corresponding to one 2 eV photon per prod- uct molecule) it is expensive relative to most bulk chemicals. We iden- tify four criteria for a successful application that allows efficient utiliza- tion of this costly source of energy. In reviewing the status of uranium laser isotope separation (LIS) at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab- oratories (LLNL), we show how this program satisfies our criteria.