Activation cross sections of Proton Induced Nuclear Reactions on neodymium up to 65 MeV

TL;DR

This study measured proton-induced nuclear reaction cross sections on neodymium up to 65 MeV, providing new data for medical isotope production and comparing results with theoretical models.

Contribution

It presents the first measurements of activation cross sections on neodymium above 45 MeV, expanding the energy range for nuclear data relevant to medical isotope production.

Findings

Measured excitation functions for multiple neodymium reactions up to 65 MeV.

Compared experimental data with TENDL-2015 theoretical predictions.

Discussed implications for medical isotope production.

Abstract

In the frame of a systematic study of the activation cross sections of charged particle induced nuclear reactions on rare earths for production of therapeutic radionuclides, proton induced reactions on neodymium were measured up to 65 MeV energy, above 45 MeV for the first time. The excitation functions of the natNd(p,x)150,149,148m,148g,146,144,143,141Pm, 149,147,141,140,139m,138Nd, 142,138mPr and 139gCe nuclear reactions were assessed by using stacked foil activation technique and high resolution gamma-spectrometry. The excitation functions were compared to the theoretical predictions, available in the TENDL-2015 library based on latest version of the TALYS code. The application of the data for medical isotope production is shortly discussed.