Characteristic features of the photolysis of UF6 molecules in a mixture with hydrogen by radiation from a repetitively pulsed CF4 laser

Uranium hexafluoride molecules were photolysed in the presence of hydrogen by focused radiation of a repetitively pulsed CF₄ laser (λ = 16 μm) with an energy of ~100 mJ per pulse at a pulse repetition rate 2 — 3.5 Hz. In the presence of hydrogen the yield of the photolysis of UF₆ molecules was an order of magnitude higher than without hydrogen and the number of molecules photolysed per pulse was 3 — 5.5 times higher than their number in a zone where the radiation density exceeded the dissociation threshold. This effect was attributed to laser activation of UF₆ molecules inside and outside this zone, and to a subsequent reaction of the activated molecules with hydrogen. In the presence of hydrogen the yield of the photolysis of UF₆ molecules decreased from pulse to pulse practically proportionally to the change in the density of UF₆ molecules, which was the result of reactions of the newly formed hydrogen radicals with activated and nonactivated UF₆ molecules, and the rates of these reactions depended quadratically on the UF₆ density before each pulse.