Evaluation of the cyclotron production of 165Er by different reactions

Erbium-165 with 10.3 h physical half-life decays completely by electron capture to the ground state of stable isotope 165Ho and it is an ideal radio lanthanide for Auger electron therapy. Excitation function of 165Er via natEr(p,x)165Tm → 165Er, 166Er(p,2n)165Tm → 165Er, 165Ho(p,n)165Er and 165Ho(d,2n)165Er reactions were calculated using ALICE/ASH (Hybrid and GDH models) and EMPIRE 3.1 codes and then were compared with the reported measurement by experimental data and TENDL-2011. Physical yield and target thickness were evaluated with attention to excitation function, stopping power and SRIM code. 165Er was produced using the sedimentation technique through the natEr (p,x)165Tm → 165Er reaction. The deposited target was irradiated with 15 MeV proton beams at 20 μA current for 1 h. The 165Tm production yield was 26 MBq/μA h at the end of bombardment. (author)