Solid target for radiopharmaceutical production

Method for the creation of a solid target with a high level of heat exchange for the production of 99mTc by cyclotron. The target consists of an inert backing plate with high thermal conductivity, and an ultra-thick film of 100Mo deposited directly on the backing plate through the magnetron sputtering technique.

How does it work?

The backing plate of the complex target is made by vacuum brazing of a thin layer of chemically inert dielectric material to a metal component with high thermal conductivity. The deposition of the precursor material for the production of the radionuclide (e.g. 100Mo for the production of 99mTc, 89Y for the production of 89Zr, etc.) is carried out using the magnetron sputtering technique in order to obtain a film with high density, uniformity, thickness and adhesion directly on the chemically inert layer. Optimization of the parameters used for the magnetron sputtering technique, in particular, inert gas pressure, substrate temperatures and multilayer deposition, make it possible to minimise the total stress in the system and ensure a high thickness of 100µm-1mm.

Applications

• Target of 100Mo, 89Y, 52Cr, nat,63Cu for the production of 99mTc, 89Zr, 52Mn, 62,63Zn;
• Backing plate of solid targets for the production of radionuclides at high cyclotron currents;
• Thick films of refractory metals, such as Nb for Cu SRF cavities, or W for graphite components for Tokamak, etc.

Advantages

• High thermo-mechanical resistance of the target;
• High cyclotron currents can be used to increase the production yield of the radionuclide;
• Inert backing plate guarantees absence of impurities;
• Reduced production costs thanks to the brazing technique