Introduction
High starting radioactivity is usually advantageous for producing radiopharmaceuticals with high specific radioactivity. However, the [11C]CH4 yields from N2-H2 gas target fall short from theoretical amounts, as calculated from the cross section for the well-known 14N(p,α)11C nuclear reaction1. The beneficial effect of increased target chamber temperature on [11C]CH4 yields has recently been brought forward by us2 and others3. In addition to the temperature effect, our attention has also been on the hydrogen content factor.
This study intends to examine the N2-H2 target performance in a substantially larger target chamber and at higher temperatures than our setup before and compare the results to the existing data.
Materials and Methods
Aluminium bodied custom design target chamber is used in fixed 17 MeV proton beam irradiations. Target chamber is equipped with heating elements and cooling circuit for temperature control. In addition to the target chamber body temperature, the target gas loading pressure and irradiation current can be varied.
The irradiation product is collected into an ad-sorbent trap that was immersed in a liquid argon cooling bath within a dose calibrator.
Results and Conclusion
Pursued data will show [11C]CH4 saturation yields (Ysat [GBq/µA]) at different irradiation and target parameters
