Separation of 163Er from dysprosium target: a step toward neutrino mass measurement through electron capture of 163Ho

Abstract

Production of pure 163Ho, a potential source for the direct kinematic measurement of neutrino mass, via the decay of its precursor 163Er has been investigated. The short-lived 163Er (75 min) will be produced in the α-particle induced reaction on natural Dy oxide target and will decay eventually to 163Ho. A fast radiochemical separation technique based on liquid–liquid extraction using di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (HDEHP) dissolved in cyclohexane as organic phase and HCl as aqueous phase has been developed to separate no-carrier added (NCA) Er from the Dy matrix.