Experimental study of the ~(165)Ho(p,n) nuclear reaction for production of the therapeutic radioisotope ~(165)Er

摘要

The 10.3 h half life radionuclide ~(165)Er, decaying by electron capture to stable ~(165)Ho, is an excellent candidate for Auger-electron therapy. In the frame of a systematic study of charged particle production routes of ~(165)Er, the excitation function of the ~(165)Ho(p,n)~(165)Er reaction was measured up to 35 MeV by using a stacked foil irradiation technique and X-ray spectroscopy. The measured excitation function shows a significant energy shift when compared to the only experimental dataset measured earlier and an acceptable agreement with the results of different nuclear reaction model codes. The thick target yields calculated from the excitation function at typical energies available at small cyclotrons (E_p = 11 MeV and E_p = 15 MeV) are 41 MB_q/μAh = 11 GB_q/C and 75 MB_q/μAh = 21 GB_q/C, respectively.