Spatial distribution of radionuclides produced in copper by photonuclear spallation reactions

Abstract The spatial distribution of radionuclides produced in a 15 cm thick copper target, which is commonly used as accelerator material, was measured by bombarding the bremsstrahlung radiation generated by 900 MeV electrons. The production of radionuclides of 64 Cu, 61 Cu, 60 Cu, 58 Co, 57 Co, 55 Co, 56 Mn, 52 Mn, 48 Sc, 47 Sc,and 44m Sc was clearly identified up to about 10 cm in depth. The spatial distribution of bremsstrahlung radiation in copper was also calculated by the electromagnetic cascade Monte Carlo code, EGS-4. By comparing the experimental data and the calculated results, the effective cross sections and the effective energy ranges were derived for 65 Cu(γ,n) 64 Cu, 63 Cu(γ,2n) 61 Cu, 63 Cu(γ,3n) 60 Cu and other photonuclear spallation reactions.