A heavy-ion production channel of 149Tb via 63Cu bombardment of 89Y

The radionuclide ¹⁴⁹Tb (t_1/2 = 4.1 h) is a potential theranostic isotope which can simultaneously be used for targeted-alpha-particle therapy and positron-emission tomography. Feasibility experiments were performed to test a near-symmetric heavy-ion reaction of ⁶³Cu bombardment on monoisotopic ⁸⁹Y. The indirect reaction was studied to avoid isomer production. Offline gamma spectroscopy was used to quantify thick-target physical yields and experimental results show modest agreement to the fusion-evaporation code PACE4. A near-symmetric fission yield was also observed.