Production of scandium-44m and scandium-44g with deuterons on calcium-44: cross section measurements and production yield calculations

HIGHLIGHTS Production of Sc-44m, Sc-44g and contaminants. Experimental values determined using the stacked-foil technique. Thick-Target production Yield (TTY) calculations. Comparison with the TALYS code version 1.6. Among the large number of radionuclides of medical interest, Sc-44 is promising for PET imaging. Either the ground-state Sc-44g or the metastable-state Sc-44m can be used for such applications, depending on the molecule used as vector. This study compares the production rates of both Sc-44 states, when protons or deuterons are used as projectiles on an enriched Calcium-44 target. This work presents the first set of data for the deuteron route. The results are compared with the TALYS code. The Thick-Target production Yields of Sc-44m and Sc-44g are calculated and compared with those for the proton route for three different scenarios: the production of Sc-44g for conventional PET imaging, its production for the new 3. imaging technique developed at the SUBATECH laboratory and the production of a Sc-44m/Sc-44g in vivo generator for antibody labelling.