Authors
• Zubaida, G. H.,,zgh200004.ppy@buk.edu.ng,Department of Physics BUK
• Koki, F. S.,,fskoki.phy@buk.edu.ng ,,Department of Physics BUK
• Ahmad, I.,iahmad.phy@buk.edu.ng,Department of Physics BUK
•
Abstract
The study of how a nuclear particles interaction cross-sections change with varying energies
is becoming more important, because of their use in targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT)
and nuclear imaging. The need for detailed study of interaction data for nuclear particles,
particularly within the low energy range (0–25 MeV) is apparently overlooked. This paper
employed GEANT4, a C++-based Monte Carlo simulation toolkit, to investigate the energy
dependent behavior of alpha particles, deuterons, and protons in natural Nickel and to
model nuclear reactions involved in the production of theranostic radionuclides, specifically
64Cu via 66Ni (p, n) reaction, 67Cu through 66Ni (d, n) & 66Ni Ni-62(a, t) reactions. The result
show the shortest mean free path (MFP) of 2.697 cm at 7.5 MeV, 3.87 cm at 17.5 MeV and
4.012 cm at 17.5 MeV for alpha deuteron and proton respectively. The maximum cross
section per atom (CPA) of 4.565 b at 7.5 MeV for α, 3.356 b at 17.5 MeV for d and 2.73 b at
17.5 MeV for p. The maximum total cross section (TCS) for α is 1.4175 b at 25 MeV, 1.773 b
at 17.5 MeV for d and 1.17 b at 25 MeV for p. The Excitation functions for the reaction
channels; 64Ni (p, n) 64Cu and 66Ni (d, n) 67Cu were compared with Experimental nuclear data
(EXFOR) and Evaluated nuclear data (ENDF) libraries with good agreements. Theranostic
applications utilize Cu-64 and Cu-67 as important pair radionuclides.
Keywords
Energy-dependent
Cross section
GEANT4
Particle transport
Theranostics