Intense beam of metastable Muonium

Precision spectroscopy of the Muonium Lamb shift and fine structure requires a robust source of 2S Muonium. To date, the beam-foil technique is the only demonstrated method for creating such a beam in vacuum. Previous experiments using this technique were statistics limited, and new measurements would benefit tremendously from the efficient 2S production at a low energy muon ($$<20$$ < 20 keV) facility. Such a source of abundant low energy $${\mu }^{+}$$ μ + has only become available in recent years, e.g. at the Low-Energy Muon beamline at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Using this source, we report on the successful creation of an intense, directed beam of metastable Muonium. We find that even though the theoretical Muonium fraction is maximal in the low energy range of 2–5 keV, scattering by the foil and transport characteristics of the beamline favor slightly higher $${\mu }^{+}$$ μ + energies of 7–10 keV. We estimate that an event detection rate of a few events per second for a future Lamb shift measurement is feasible, enabling an increase in precision by two orders of magnitude over previous determinations.

Cross sections and production yields of 117mSn and other radionuclides generated in natural and enriched antimony with protons up to 145 MeV

Cross sections of a prospective medical radionuclide 117mSn along with 113Sn, 120m,122Sb, 111,114mIn and 118,119m,119g,121m,121g,123mTe generated in natural and enriched antimony targets by protons in a wide energy range up to 145 MeV were determined. A stacked-foil technique followed by gas chemical separation and γ-ray spectrometry were used. The obtained data were compared with experimental values reported in literature and with theoretical computations by ALICE, TALYS and Cascade-Evaporation-Fission codes. Production yields of 117mSn and the main impurity 113Sn were estimated for different irradiation modes.

Production yields of 𝛽+ emitters for range verification in proton therapy

In-vivo Positron Emission Tomography (PET) range verification relies on the comparison of the measured and estimated activity distributions from β+ emitters induced by the proton beam on the most abundant elements in the human body, right after (looking at the long-lived β+ emitters 11C, 13N and 15O) or during (looking at the short-lived β+ emitters 29P, 12N, 38mK and 10C) the irradiation. The accuracy of the estimated activity distributions is basically that of the underlying cross section data. In this context, the aim of this work is to improve the knowledge of the production yields of β+ emitters of interest in proton therapy. In order to measure the long-lived β+ isotopes, a new method has been developed combining the multi-foil technique with the measurement of the induced activity with a clinical PET scanner. This technique has been tested successfully below 18 MeV at CNA (Spain) and will be used at a clinical beam to obtain data up to 230 MeV. However, such method does not allow measuring the production short-lived isotopes (lower half-life). For this, the proposed method combines a series of targets sandwiched between aluminum foils (acting as both degraders and converters) placed between two LaBr3 detectors that will measure the pairs of 511 keV γ-rays. The first tests will take place at the AGOR facility at KVI-CART, in Groningen.

Numerical solving the herat equation with data on a time-like boundary for the heated thin foil technique

In this paper, a numerical algorithm for solving the heat equation with data on a time-like boundary is presented. This result is necessary for the heated thin foil technique, which is used to study stationary and non-stationary transport processes in the region of the “solid-liquid-vapor” contact line. The algorithm was tested on real data obtained during laboratory experiments.

Study of proton induced nuclear reactions on molybdenum: cross section measurements and theoretical calculations

Excitation functions were measured by the activation method using the stacked-foil technique for the natMo(p,x)93(m+g),94m,g,95m,g,96(m+g),99mTc, 92m,95Nb reactions up to 18 MeV. The experimental results were compared with literature data and theoretical results from EMPIRE-3.2.2 code and TENDL. Special attention was paid to the 100Mo(p,2n)99mTc reaction which is very promising for the production of 99mTc at a cyclotron. In order to optimize the production conditions of some medically important Tc isotopes, the integral yields were estimated based on the measured cross sections.

The measurements of neutron Fermi Age for selected Nuclear Reactor shielding materials using the Indium foil technique

The Neutron Fermi Age, t, and the neutron slowing down density, q (r, t) , have been measured for some materials such as Graphite and Iron by using gamma spectrometry system UCS-30 with NaI (Tl) detector. This technique was applied for Graphite and Iron materials by using Indium foils covered by Cadmium and the measurements done at the Indium resonance of 1.46 eV. These materials are exposed to a plane 241Am/Be neutron source with recent activity 38 mCi. The measurements of the Fermi Age were found to be t = 297 ± 21 cm2 for Graphite, t = 400 ± 28 cm2 for Iron. Neutron slowing down density was also calculated depending on the recent experimental t value and distance.