Experimental study of the ~(165)Ho(d,2n) and ~(165)Ho(d,p) nuclear reactions up to 20 MeV for production of the therapeutic radioisotopes ~(165)Er and ~(~(~(166))g)Ho

摘要

The radioisotope ~(165)Er (Ti/2 = 10.36 h) is a candidate for Auger-electron therapy. The fT-emitting ~(~(166)g)Ho (Ty2 = 26.83 h) is now being explored for various therapeutic applications. In the frame of our systematic study of charged particle production routes of therapeutic radionuclides the excitation functions of the ~(165)Ho(d,2n)~(165)Er and ~(165)Ho(d,p)~(~(166)g)Ho reactions were measured up to 20 MeV by using a stacked foil irradiation technique and X/y-ray spectroscopy. The excitation function of the ~(165)Ho(d,2n)~(165)Er reaction was measured for the first time while for the ~(165)Ho(d,p)~(~(166)g)Ho reaction only a single dataset of earlier measured cross-sections was found. The measured excitation functions were compared to the results of different nuclear reaction model codes. The calculated thick target yield of the ~(165)Ho(d,2n) reaction is significantly higher over the optimal energy range than that for the ~(165)Ho(p,n) reaction investigated earlier by us. The integral yield of the ~(165)Ho(d,p)~(~(166)g)Ho reaction is rather low compared to the established ~(165)Ho(n,y)~(166)Ho reaction in a nuclear reactor.