Nuclear isotope production by ordinary muon capture reaction

Abstract

Muon capture isotope production using ordinary muon (μ) capture reaction is used to efficiently produce various kinds of nuclear isotopes for both fundamental and applied science studies. The large capture probability of μ into a nucleus, together with the high intensity μ beam, make it possible to produce nuclear isotopes in the order of 109−10 per second depending on the muon beam intensity. Radioactive isotopes produced by muon capture isotope production technique are complementary to those produced by photon and neutron capture reactions and are used for various science and technology applications. Muon capture isotope production on NatMo by using the MuSIC μ beam at RCNP, Osaka University is presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the technique. The nuclear isotopes produced by this technique are evaluated by using a pre-equilibrium and equilibrium proton neutron emission model. Radioactive 99Mo isotopes and the metastable 99mTc isotopes, which are used extensively in medical science, are produced by muon capture reaction on NatMo and 100Mo.