Deuteron-induced reactions on Yb: Measured cross sections and rationale for production pathways of carrier-free, medically relevant radionuclides

Abstract Deuteron-induced nuclear reactions for generation of carrier-free Lu isotopes were investigated using the stacked-foil activation technique on natural Yb targets at incident energies up to E d  = 20 MeV. Excitation functions are reported for the first time for the generation of 170,171m+g,172m+g,173,174g,177g Lu and 169cum,175,177g+m Yb. Special attention is paid to cumulative, direct and indirect production of the therapeutically-relevant radioisotope 177g Lu via the 176 Yb(d, p) 177 Yb →  177 Lu and 176 Yb(d, n) 177 Lu reactions. Thick target yields for all investigated radionuclides, optimal irradiation conditions and comparison of production routes for the medically-relevant isotopes are derived.