Production of short-lived isotopes by charged particle accelerators ((d,n) and (p,n) reactions)

Abstract

Cohen and Canada (1972) have discussed the use of Van de Graaff accelerators for the production of such short-lived radionuclides as ¹¹C (20 min), ¹³N (10 min), ¹⁵O (2 min) and ¹⁸F (112 min) for medical applications. The authors feel that Cohen and Canada have overestimated the average cross-sections for the production of ¹¹C and ¹⁵O with 6 and 12 MeV deuterons. Furthermore, they have not considered the problem in sufficient detail, and as a result have neglected a number of important factors, which place their estimates in error by a factor of at least 100 to 1000.