Abstract
Protons of energies up to 37 MeV have been generated when ultra-intense lasers (up to 10(20) W cm(-2)) interact with hydrogen containing solid targets. These protons can be used to induce nuclear reactions in secondary targets to produce P-emitting nuclei of relevance to the nuclear medicine community, namely C-11 and N-13 via (p, n) and (p, alpha) reactions. Activities of the order of 200 kBq have been measured from a single laser pulse interacting with a thin solid target. The possibility of using ultra-intense lasers to produce commercial amounts of short-lived positron emitting sources for positron emission tomography (PET) is discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 449-458 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Nuclear Instruments & Methods In Physics Research Section B-beam Interactions With Materials And Atoms |
Volume | 183 |
Issue number | 3-4 |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2001 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
- Instrumentation
- Surfaces and Interfaces