Author:

Keywords:

Radioactive ion beam production, C production, target material, Science & Technology, Technology, Physical Sciences, Instruments & Instrumentation, Nuclear Science & Technology, Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical, Physics, Nuclear, Physics, C-11 production, POSITRON-EMISSION-TOMOGRAPHY, IN-BEAM, RADIOACTIVE BEAMS, OXIDATION, KINETICS, ISOLDE, OXIDE, 0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics, 0402 Geochemistry, 0915 Interdisciplinary Engineering, Applied Physics, 5104 Condensed matter physics, 5106 Nuclear and plasma physics

Abstract:

A novel production system based on the Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) method is being developed to produce intense mass separated 11C beams for PET-aided hadron therapy. In this work, we present a systematic study of the target that was developed for optimized 11C beam production. A solid boron nitride target (BN) with approximately 21% open porosity was manufactured by spark plasma sintering to provide maximized in-target production yield with enhanced isotope release properties. Operational limitations with respect to high temperatures and oxidizing atmospheres were studied, revealing that the BN target can withstand temperatures up to 1500 °C and can be operated with a controlled O2 leak, providing O2 potentials up to −300 kJ/mol, measured at 1000 °C.