Measured bremsstrahlung photonuclear production of 99Mo ((99m)Tc) with 34 MeV to 1.7 GeV electrons.

(99)Mo photonuclear yield was measured using high-energy electrons from Laser Plasma Accelerators and natural molybdenum. Spectroscopically resolved electron beams allow comparisons to Monte Carlo calculations using known (100)Mo(γ,n)(99)Mo cross sections. Yields are consistent with published low-energy data, and higher energy data are well predicted from the calculations. The measured yield is (15±2)×10(-5) atoms/electron (0.92±0.11 GBq/μA) for 25 mm targets at 33.7 MeV, rising to (1391±20)×10(-5) atoms/electron (87±2 GBq/μA) for 54 mm/ 1.7 GeV, with peak power-normalized yield at 150 MeV.