Radioactive ion beams of 111 In using ECR plasma sputtering method.

Radioactive ion beams of111 In (indium-111, half-life 2.8 days) have been produced using the plasma sputtering method in an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source at the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre RIB facility. Indium isotopes were first produced by bombarding a natural silver target with a 32 MeV, 40 μA alpha particle beam from the K-130 cyclotron. After radio-chemical separation, about 25 mCi In-chloride was deposited on an aluminum electrode and inserted in the plasma chamber of the ECR. Indium ions produced by ion induced sputtering in the plasma were extracted from the ion source, isotopically separated, and a pure111 In beam was measured at the focal plane of the separator. The measured111 In beam intensity was 2.67 × 105 particles/s for a beam energy of 5 keV.