Study of proton induced nuclear reactions on molybdenum: cross section measurements and theoretical calculations

Abstract

Excitation functions were measured by the activation method using the stacked-foil technique for the natMo(p,x)93(m+g),94m,g,95m,g,96(m+g),99mTc, 92m,95Nb reactions up to 18 MeV. The experimental results were compared with literature data and theoretical results from EMPIRE-3.2.2 code and TENDL. Special attention was paid to the 100Mo(p,2n)99mTc reaction which is very promising for the production of 99mTc at a cyclotron. In order to optimize the production conditions of some medically important Tc isotopes, the integral yields were estimated based on the measured cross sections.