Measurement of the 43Sc production cross-section with a deuteron beam

(SC)-S-43,44/(SC)-S-47 is one of the most promising theranostic pairs in nuclear medicine. The co-emission of 1157 keV gamma-rays with 99.9% branching ratio by Sc-44 and the presence of its metastable state Sc-44m push to favour the adoption of Sc-43 for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) diagnostic procedures to lighten the dose to the patient and to the personnel. The beta(+) emitter Sc-43 can be produced at a medical cyclotron by proton bombardment of an enriched Ca-43 or Ti-46 oxide target. Sc-43 can be also produced by deuteron bombardment of an enriched Ca-42 oxide target. Only a few medical cyclotrons currently in operation offer deuteron beams. Some can be adapted to operate both a proton or a deuteron source. To compare these three production routes, an accurate knowledge of the cross-sections is essential. In this paper, we report on the cross-section measurement of the reaction Ca-42(d,n)Sc-43 performed at the 6 MV HVEC EN-Tandem of the Ion Beam Physics group at ETH in Zurich. A study of the production yield by using commercially available enriched target materials is also presented.