Photonuclear production of medical isotopes <sup>62,64</sup>Cu using intense laser-plasma electron source

Ma ZhiGuo; Lan HaoYang; Liu WeiYuan; Wu ShaoDong; Xu Yi; Zhu ZhiChao; Luo Wen

doi:10.1063/1.5100925

Volume 4 Issue 6

Nov. 2019

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Article Navigation > Matter and Radiation at Extremes > 2019 > 4(6): 064401

Ma ZhiGuo, Lan HaoYang, Liu WeiYuan, Wu ShaoDong, Xu Yi, Zhu ZhiChao, Luo Wen. Photonuclear production of medical isotopes 62,64Cu using intense laser-plasma electron source[J]. Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 2019, 4(6): 064401. doi: 10.1063/1.5100925

Citation:

Ma ZhiGuo, Lan HaoYang, Liu WeiYuan, Wu ShaoDong, Xu Yi, Zhu ZhiChao, Luo Wen. Photonuclear production of medical isotopes ^62,64Cu using intense laser-plasma electron source[J]. Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 2019, 4(6): 064401. doi: 10.1063/1.5100925

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Photonuclear production of medical isotopes ^62,64Cu using intense laser-plasma electron source

doi: 10.1063/1.5100925

1.
School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of South China, 421001 Hengyang, People’s Republic of China
2.
Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of China
3.
Extreme Light Infrastructure–Nuclear Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania

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Corresponding author: a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: wenluo-ok@163.com
Received Date: 2019-04-22
Accepted Date: 2019-08-11

Available Online: 2019-10-31

Publish Date: 2019-11-15

Abstract

Abstract

^62,64Cu are radioisotopes of medical interest that can be used for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Moreover, ⁶⁴Cu has β⁻ decay characteristics that allow for targeted radiotherapy of cancer. In the present work, a novel approach to experimentally demonstrate the production of ^62,64Cu isotopes from photonuclear reactions is proposed in which large-current laser-based electron (e⁻) beams are generated from the interaction between sub-petawatt laser pulses and near-critical-density plasmas. According to simulations, at a laser intensity of 3.4 × 10²¹ W/cm², a dense e⁻ beam with a total charge of 100 nC can be produced, and this in turn produces bremsstrahlung radiation of the order of 10¹⁰ photons per laser shot, in the region of the giant dipole resonance. The bremsstrahlung radiation is guided to a natural Cu target, triggering photonuclear reactions to produce the medical isotopes ^62,64Cu. An optimal target geometry is employed to maximize the photoneutron yield, and ^62,64Cu with appropriate activities of 0.18 GBq and 0.06 GBq are obtained for irradiation times equal to their respective half-lives multiplied by three. The detection of the characteristic energy for the nuclear transitions of ^{62, 64}Cu is also studied. The results of our calculations support the prospect of producing PET isotopes with gigabecquerel-level activity (equivalent to the required patient dose) using upcoming high-intensity laser facilities.

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