Assessment and estimation of Cu production yield via deuteron induced reactions on Zn and Zn.

Cu radioisotope is a beta particle-emitting nuclide used in radioimmunotherapy (RIT) as well as for imaging, tracer kinetic studies and dosimetry. Cu can be produced by bombarding Zn with deuterons. In this study, the physical yields of Cu via Zn(d,x)Cu reaction channel as well as via subreactions of Zn(d,2pn)Cu, Zn(d,2p)Cu, Zn(d,2p3n)Cu, Zn(d,x)Ni(T=21s)→Cu and Zn(d,x)Ni(T=21s)→Cu in the Zn target have been calculated by using the MCNPX-2.6, TALYS-1.8 and SRIM codes. Also, the total cross sections for production of Cu from Zn(d,x)Cu reaction channel in the energy range of 15-45MeV have been estimated by TALYS code. The best reaction to produce Cu radionuclide in a carrier free form was chosen with deuteron energy around 30MeV on Zn thick target. Good agreement between the calculated results and the experimental values shows that the employed methods can be used for prediction and production estimation in cyclotron.