Excitation functions of proton induced nuclear reactions on natural copper using a medium-sized cyclotron

Activation techniques have been used to measure the excitation functions of proton induced nuclear reactions on natural copper from their thresholds up to 27.5 MeV. The beam current was measured using a Faraday cup with secondary electron suppression, and the radioactivity of the products was determined via high-resolution gamma ray spectrometry. The data were compared with the data recommended by the IAEA wherever it was possible. A comparison of the new excitation functions with the theoretical calculations reported in the literature was undertaken to check the order of agreement between them. Good agreement was found for the results of Zn-63 while the theoretical calculations overestimate the cross sections for Cu-61 and Zn-62. The excitation function for the reaction Cu-nat(p, x)Co-61 was measured for the first time during this work. The integral yields of the radionuclides Zn-62,Zn-63,Zn-65, Cu-61 and Co-61 were calculated. Zn-63 and Zn-65 are produced over the whole energy range of 3 to 27.5 MeV and the yield gets saturated above 20 MeV. Zn-62, Cu-61 and Co-61 are produced at relatively high energies and have integral yield values between those of Zn-63 and Zn-65. The relatively high yield of Zn-61 is useful for the production of Zn-62/Cu-61 generator system.