Development of Laser-induced Vaporization Mass Spectrometry to Study Refractory Materials

An experimental facility has been developed based on laser-induced vaporization of materials, coupled with mass spectrometric monitoring of the vapour species. The primary purpose is to measure the vapour pressures of refractory materials in the temperature range 2500–5000 K. The results obtained on the partial pressures of various U–O vapour species are presented. The total vapour pressure at 4300 K is deduced to be 3.9 atmospheres.