Preliminary Results of the Studies on Fractionation of Ytterbium Isotopes in Yb(III)-Acetate/Yb-Amalgam System

ABSTRACT

Preliminary data on the fractionation of ytterbium isotopes in a Yb(III)-acetate/Yb-amalgam exchange system were obtained. The light isotope was preferentially fractionated to the amalgam phase. The values of the unit separation gain per mass difference, ϵ, were found to be −00054 for ^176/71Yb and −00069 for ^176/174Yb. The difference, which amounted to 00015, may be taken as evidence for the occurrence of the so-called “even-odd” effect. It was also found that the chemical isotope shift of ytterbium was mirrored by the optical isotope shift in its atomic spectra.