What is it about?
Current laser technologies allow protons of tens of MeV to be accelerated and focused on secondary targets where nuclear reactions can occur. The paper “Radioisotopes production using lasers: from basic science to applications” investigates the possibility of developing a new approach to the production of radioisotopes for medical applications using high repetition lasers.
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Why is it important?
This route could be competitive to conventional methods based on accelerators. In the paper the production of 67Cu, 63Zn, 18F and 11C was investigated. Such radioisotopes are currently used in positron emission tomography (PET).
Perspectives
Using laser produced plasmas to make isotopes useful in medicine is challenging but it can lead to a much wider use of those isotopes in hospitals and for other uses. Our results obtained at the VEGA facility in Spain are very encouraging and may stimulate many practical applications.
Aldo Bonasera
Texas A&M University College Station
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Radioisotope production using lasers: From basic science to applications, Matter and Radiation at Extremes, March 2024, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/5.0196909.
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