Design and Fabrication of a Suitable Target for 87Y Production

87Y/87mSr generator is widely used in nuclear medicine. 87mSr(2.8h,Eγ=388keV) and the parent isotope 7Y(80.3h,Eγ=484keV) are used for skeletal scintigraphy and dosimetry modeling. Theoretical studies of cross section indicated that 88Sr(p.2n)87Y reaction in a cyclotron appears to be an attractive way for high production of 87Y. The aim of this study is to design and fabricate a suitable target for the above reaction. A software in C language has been written to calculate the products yields, and to determine the optimum energy of proton (21-27MeV) and the target thickness in order to get a maximum yield for 87Y and a minimum yield for the rest of products. An increase of yield from 0.41mCi/μA.h for Sr(NO3)2 target to 0.57mCi/μA.h for ClSr2 target has been achieved. This gain can be due to the following reasons:i) better heat transfer from the target to the cooling system (with optimizing the target holder),ii) higher melting point of target, iii) increase of Sr weight percent in the target, iv) more activity because of  keeping the target surface cool.