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M. R. Zaman, S. Spellerberg, Syed M. Qaim

Production of ⁵⁵Co via the ⁵⁴Fe(d,n)-process and excitation functions of ⁵⁴Fe(d,t)⁵³Fe and ⁵⁴Fe(d,α)^52mMn reactions from threshold up to 13.8MeV

For production of the medically interesting β⁺-emitter ⁵⁵Co (T_1/2=17.6h) via the ⁵⁴Fe(d,n)-reaction, 91.6 enriched ⁵⁴Fe₂O₃, mixed with Al powder, was pressed to a pellet which could be irradiated with 14MeV deuterons at 4μA in a water-cooled target system. A separation method was developed which led to >99.9 pure ⁵⁵Co and allowed a recovery of the enriched target material. For a target thickness of E_d=12.6-5MeV, the experimental thick target yield of ⁵⁵Co after chemical separation amounted to about 13MBq/μA·h, which is about 60 of the theoretical value. In a 3h irradiation at 4μA, the batch yield of ⁵⁵Co achieved was 160MBq (4.3mCi). An 8h irradiation could lead to a batch yield of about 400MBq. The ⁵⁴Fe(d,n) reaction leads to the highest purity ⁵⁵Co but it is essential that the isotopic enrichment of the target is not less than 90. In addition to the production work, cross sections were measured for the ⁵⁴Fe(d,t) ⁵³Fe and ⁵⁴Fe(d,α)^52mMn reactions using the standard stacked-foil technique and high-resolution γ-ray spectrometry. The cross section ratio for the isomeric pair ^52m,gMn is discussed in terms of the spins of the two states involved and the increasing projectile energy.

Radiochimica Acta, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag

Print ISSN: 0033-8230
Volume: 91, 02/2003
Pages: 105

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