Nuclear model analysis of excitation functions of α-particle induced reactions on In and Cd up to 60MeV with relevance to the production of high specific activity 117m Sn.

Excitation functions were calculated for the α-particle induced reactions 115 In(α,x)117m Sn, 114 Cd(α,n)117m Sn, 116 Cd(α,3n)117m Sn and nat Cd(α,x)117m Sn to analyse the production of the medically important 117m Sn (T½ = 13.6 d). For calculations three nuclear model codes (i.e. TALYS, EMPIRE and ALICE-IPPE) were used and the results were compared with the available experimental data. For the most important reaction, 116 Cd(α,3n)117m Sn, evaluated data are presented. The yield and radionuclidic purity of 117m Sn from each reaction are discussed.