Excitation functions of proton induced nuclear reactions on enriched 61Ni and 64Ni: Possibility of production of no-carrier-added 61Cu and 64Cu at a small cyclotron

Abstract

Excitation functions were measured by the stacked-foil technique for 61Ni(p,n) 61Cu and 61Ni(p,2n) 60Cu nuclear reactions using 88.84% enriched 61Ni and for 64Ni(p,n) 64Cu reaction using 95% enriched 64Ni from threshold up to 18.6 MeV. The optimum energy range for the production of both 61Cu and 64Cu was found to be 12 → 9 MeV. The calculated thick target yield of 61Cu amounts to 17.5 mCi (647 MBq)/γAh. At the given enrichment the yield was 15.5 mCi (573 MBq)/γAh and the expected level of 60Cu and 64Cu impurities at EOB reached 14.59 and 0.086%, respectively. For production of 64Cu the yield was 6.71 mCi (248 MBq)/γAh. At 95% enrichment of the target material the 64Cu yield amounts to 6.38 mCi (236 MBq)/γAh and the 60Cu and 61Cu impurities at EOB are 10.01 and 0.41%, respectively. An anion-exchange chromatographic technique for the separation of radiocopper from activated Ni target was developed. The 61Ni(p,n) 61Cu and 64Ni(p,n) 64Cu processes are suited for the production of 61Cu and 64Cu at a small cyclotron. The common production routes for 64Cu are briefly reviewed.