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 13.8 MeV

Abstract

Abstract For production of the medically interesting β +-emitter 55Co (T 1/2=17.6 h) via the 54Fe(d,n)-reaction, 91.6% enriched 54Fe2O3, mixed with Al powder, was pressed to a pellet which could be irradiated with 14 MeV 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 → 5 MeV, the experimental thick target yield of 55Co after chemical separation amounted to about 13 MBq/µA·h, which is about 60% of the theoretical value. In a 3 h irradiation at 4µA, the batch yield of 55Co achieved was 160 MBq (4.3 mCi). An 8 h irradiation could lead to a batch yield of about 400 MBq. 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.