On-line measurements of proton beam current from a PET cyclotron using a thin aluminum foil

The number of cyclotrons capable of accelerating protons to about 20 MeV is increasing throughout the world. Originally aiming at the production of positron emission tomography (PET) radionuclides, some of these facilities are equipped with several beam lines suitable for scientific research. Radiobiology, radiophysiology, and other dosimetric studies can be performed using these beam lines. In this work, we measured the Bragg peak of the protons from a PET cyclotron using a stacked target consisting of several aluminum foils interleaved with polyethylene sheets, readout by in-house made transimpedance electronics. The measured Bragg peak is consistent with simulations performed using the SRIM/TRIM simulation toolkit. Furthermore, we report on experimental results aiming at measuring proton beam currents down to 10 pA using a thin aluminum foil (20-μm-thick). The aluminum was chosen for this task because it is radiation hard, it has low density and low radiation activity, and finally because it is easily available at negligible cost. This method allows for calculating the dose delivered to a target during an irradiation with high efficiency, and with minimal proton energy loss and scattering