18f Radioisotope Yield of Polytetrafluoroethylene Activation on the M-30 Microtron

Abstract

The experimental and modeled values of the yield of the 18F radioisotope formed during the irradiation of polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) with bremsstrahlung photons at the maximum energy of 17.5 MeV are presented. The output was determined using the induced activity method. The activation process was carried out on the M-30 microtron of the Institute of Electronic Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The yields of the 18F radioisotope for the optimized scheme of stimulation of (γ,n)-reactions were modeled by the GEANT4 toolkit, taking into account the technical characteristics of the M-30 microtron electron output unit. The effectiveness of using the formed beam of bremsstrahlung photons for forming the 18F radioisotope was evaluated, taking into account the reaction cross-section for the optimized irradiation scheme. The possibilities of increasing the output of the 18F radioisotope by optimizing the activation time of the samples and their geometric dimensions were analyzed. The proposed approach can be used to optimize photonuclear reaction stimulation schemes at the M-30 microtron for a wide range of nuclei and predict the yields of the radioisotopes formed.