Production of 52Fe from symmetric complete fusion-evaporation reactions

A promising method for the production and extraction of 52Fe utilizing near-symmetric, heavy-ion fusion-evaporation reactions is presented. A 28Si beam was used to bombard a 27Al target, producing 52Fe through the reaction: 27Al (28Si, p2n)52Fe. After irradiation, the aluminum target was dissolved, and the 52Fe was separated from the aluminum matrix and other reaction products through the use of a cationic-exchange column. It was possible to recover the 52Fe (t1/2 = 8.3 h) with high specific activity, higher than can be achieved with the high energy proton spallation reactions currently used to produce this isotope, which has significance in medical research. The production yields for this reaction were measured and compared to PACE4 calculations. These results demonstrate the potential for dedicated accelerator production of 52Fe using heavy-ion beams, which will result in higher specific activities with robust radiochemical purification techniques.