Boron Nitride Nanotube Cyclotron Targets for Recoil-Escape Production of Carbon-11
Johanna L. Peeples, Sang-Hyon Chu, James P. O’Neil, Mustafa Janabi, Bruce W. Wieland, Matthew H. Stokely
BTI Targetry, LLC; National Institute of Aerospace; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Oral Presentation
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Boron nitride nanotube nanomaterials can be used in a recoil escape target to produce 11C at low proton energy (7-11 MeV). This would enable 11C production for economical low-energy cyclotrons, and it could be used to increase production from conventional 11C gas targets on MiniTrace and RDS-111 cyclotrons. Preliminary experiments have demonstrated recoil escape production and recovery of small quantities of 11CO2, and there is continued research effort to develop a target design and platform that can be used to produce viable yields for a commercial system.
Conventional gas targets for 11C production (for higher energy cyclotrons) operate by proton bombardment of nitrogen gas. Due to the low nuclear cross-section of the 14N(p,α)11C nuclear reaction below 11 MeV, this production method is not commercially viable for low-energy cyclotrons. Adding BNNT nanomaterials to the target allows for an additional production route via the 11B(p,n)11C nuclear reaction which has a higher cross-section at low proton energy. If the produced 11C can be effectively recovered from the target, the total yield of 11C will be greater than currently achievable using a conventional gas target.
Three prototype targets have been tested at the RDS-111 cyclotron at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.