Prospects for 13N Production in a Small Plasma Focus Device

Interaction of the high energy deuterons with the graphite target in the plasma focus devices based on Lee model

“…2. Then, based on the obtained Lee model results, the energy spectral distribution for deuteron ions is calculated for the energy range of 0.01-3 MeV, using the following equation: 18,25,28,53 f…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Plasma focus devices have been widely used, in the past for manifold applications like x-rays and electron beams lithography, 6 radiography of biological specimens, 7 and as a rich ion source for various material science applications. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] We consider the use of plasma focus devices with sufficient ion energy to produce a number of short lived radioisotopes (SLR) such as 13 N, 17 F, 18 F, 15 O, and 11 C through either external solid (exogenous method) [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] or high atomic number gas (endogenous method) [31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] targets. These short lived radioisotopes are positron emitter used for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging.…”

“…Although there are many positron-emitting radiopharmaceuticals, the precise type of radioactive material and its delivery method depend on which organ or tissue is being studied by the PET scan. 28,43 The 13 N (half-life t 1/2 ¼ 9.97 min and threshold energy of 0.6 MeV) is a positron emitter when annihilated with electron, consequently, gamma quanta with 511 keV is produced with maximum cross-section of 240 mbarns at 2.3 MeV (Ref. 26) with reasonable cross-section of 100 mbarns above 1 MeV.…”

The Investigation Capability of Plasma Focus Device for <sup>13</sup>N Radioisotope Production by Means of Deuteron Experimental Spectrum

“…Short-lived radioisotopes (SLR) such as 11 C, 13 N, 15 O, 18 F usually have medical applications, particularly in positron emission tomography (PET). These radioisotopes are obtained through bombarding appropriate targets by ion beams produced in accelerators.…”

“…Roshan et al [6] have carried out their experiments on a plasma focus device NX2. They placed the target graphite ( ) 15 15 0.7 × × to a distance of 100 mm in front of deuteron beam within NX2 device so that the solid angle between deuterons and target graphite was 1.26 sr O = . The activity reported by Roshan et al within NX2 device with repetition rate of 1 Hz after 30 seconds of graphite bombardment was equal to 5.2 kBq [6].…”