Deuteron-induced reactions on Yb: Measured cross sections and rationale for production pathways of carrier-free, medically relevant radionuclides

Deuteron-induced nuclear reactions for generation of carrier-free Lu isotopes were investigated using the stacked-foil activation technique on natural Yb targets at incident energies up to E d = 20 MeV. Excitation functions are reported for the first time for the generation of 170,171m+g,172m+g,173,174g,177gLu and 169cum,175,177g+mYb. Special attention is paid to cumulative, direct and indirect production of the therapeutically-relevant radioisotope 177gLu via the 176Yb(d, p)177Yb →177Lu and 176Yb(d, n)177Lu reactions. Thick target yields for all investigated radionuclides, optimal irradiation conditions and comparison of production routes for the medically-relevant isotopes are derived