Excitation functions of proton induced nuclear reactions on natural copper using a medium-sized cyclotron

Summary

Activation techniques have been used to measure the excitation functions of proton induced nuclear reactions on natural copper from their thresholds up to 27.5 MeV. The beam current was measured using a Faraday cup with secondary electron suppression, and the radioactivity of the products was determined via high-resolution gamma ray spectrometry. The data were compared with the data recommended by the IAEA wherever it was possible. A comparison of the new excitation functions with the theoretical calculations reported in the literature was undertaken to check the order of agreement between them. Good agreement was found for the results of ⁶³Zn while the theoretical calculations overestimate the cross sections for ⁶¹Cu and ⁶²Zn. The excitation function for the reaction ^natCu(p, x) ⁶¹Co was measured for the first time during this work. The integral yields of the radionuclides ^62,63,65Zn, ⁶¹Cu and ⁶¹Co were calculated. ⁶³Zn and ⁶⁵Zn are produced over the whole energy range of 3 to 27.5 MeV and the yield gets saturated above 20 MeV. ⁶²Zn, ⁶¹Cu and ⁶¹Co are produced at relatively high energies and have integral yield values between those of ⁶³Zn and ⁶⁵Zn. The relatively high yield of ⁶²Zn is useful for the production of ⁶²Zn/⁶²Cu generator system.