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Description
The continuous 480 MeV proton beam from the TRIUMF H$^{-}$ cyclotron offers a unique potential for the production of rare isotopes via spallation, fragmentation and fission reactions. It was first investigated with the TISOL (Test Isotope Separator On-Line) facility, a project of John d’Auria$^{1}$. This ground-breaking work cleared the path for the present ISAC (Isotope Separation and ACceleration) and future ARIEL (Advanced Rare IsotopE Laboratory) facilities at TRIUMF$^{2}$.
Currently, the ISAC facility provides a wide range of isotopes$^{3}$ for basic research in the fields of nuclear astrophysics, nuclear structure and material science by irradiating targets containing a variety of refractory materials. Reaction products are extracted from the target via diffusion and effusion, ionized and transported through a network of electrostatic beamlines to the experiment. The isotope of interest determines the choice of target material and ion source.
A more recent application is the generation of pure exotic isotope samples from proton-irradiated targets for pre-clinical medical research towards therapeutic and diagnostic applications$^{4}$.
While isotopes delivered to online experiments can have half-lives as short as a few milliseconds, radioactive samples collected for offline medical and radiochemistry studies at the ISAC Implantation Station typically have half-lives in the range of hours to days.
The focus has been so far on isotopes for targeted alpha therapy (TAT) from composite uranium carbide targets. Samples of $^{225}$Ac, $^{224}$Ra and $^{209/211}$At (generated from $^{213}$Fr and $^{211}$Fr beams) have been collected. In a new development, alternative isotopes for TAT and Auger Therapy are collected from high-power tantalum metal foil targets which provide high-intensity lanthanide beams$^{3}$. In a first proof-of-principle test, a $^{165}$Tm/Er sample was collected and characterized.
- J.M. D'Auria, et. al.,The TISOL facility at TRIUMF: operational status at 10 years, NIM B 126, 7-11 (1997).
- Dilling, J. ISAC and ARIEL: The TRIUMF radioactive beam facilities and the scientific program. (Springer, 2014).
- Kunz P, ISAC Yield Database, 2018. URL: http://mis.triumf.ca/science/planning/yield/beam.
- Hoehr, C. et al. Medical Isotope Production at TRIUMF – from Imaging to Treatment. Physics Procedia 90, 200–208 (2017).
- Kunz P, et al. Composite uranium carbide targets at TRIUMF. J. Nuc. Mat. 2013;440(1–3):110–6.
