A new technique for the production of¹⁷F beams

R. F. Welton, ORNL Physics Division
R. L. Auble, ORNL Physics Division
J. R. Beene, ORNL Physics Division
J. C. Blackmon, ORNL Physics Division
J. Kormicki, Vanderbilt University
P. E. Mueller, ORNL Physics Division
D. W. Stracener, ORNL Physics Division
C. L. Williams, Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Engineering

Abstract

We have demonstrated that radioactive beams of Al17F+can be produced with intensities as high as 3 × 108 ions/s using the conventional Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) technique employing fibrous HfO2 target material and an external source of Al vapor. Commercially available HfO2 cloth composed of Φ = 4-6 μm fibers packed to ∼12% of the bulk density of HfO22, was irradiated with ∼2 μA of 44 MeV deuterons from the Oak Ridge Isochronous Cyclotron (ORIC). The target material (1.6 g/cm2) was contained in a high-temperature reservoir which was coupled through a heated transfer line, to a conventional plasma ion source where the radioactive ion beam was extracted. During irradiation, a flux of elemental Al vapor was directed through the fibrous material forming a transportable molecule which was then extracted from the source as Al17F+. A detailed description of this technique is given and the results of this initial experiment are discussed. The target system was used to inject 17F into the tandem electrostatic accelerator at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) and used to study the 17F(p,p)17F excitation function in the 17F energy range of 10-12 MeV.