Isotope separation of 176Lu a precursor to 177Lu medical isotope using broadband lasers

Abstract

Abstract A new photoionization scheme accessible by Rhodamine dye lasers is proposed for the isotope separation of 176Lu. $$5d6s^{2}\,{^{2}D_{{3/2}}} (0.0\, {\text{cm}}^{{ - 1}} )\mathop{\longrightarrow}\limits^{{573.8130\, {\text{nm}}}}5d6s6p\,{^{4}F_{{3/2}}^{o}} \left( {17427.28\, {\text{cm}}^{{ - 1}} } \right)\mathop{\longrightarrow}\limits^{{560.3114\, {\text{nm}}}}$$ 5 d 6 s 2 2 D 3 / 2 ( 0.0 cm - 1 ) ⟶ 573.8130 nm 5 d 6 s 6 p 4 F 3 / 2 o 17427.28 cm - 1 ⟶ 560.3114 nm $$6s{6p}^{2}\,{^{4}{P}_{5/2}}\left(35274.5 \,{\text{cm}}^{-1}\right){\to } Autoionization\, State {\to }{Lu}^{+}$$ 6 s 6 p 2 4 P 5 / 2 35274.5 cm - 1 → A u t o i o n i z a t i o n S t a t e → Lu + Optimum conditions for the laser isotope separation have been theoretically computed and compared with the previously reported work. The enrichment of ~ 63% can be obtained with > 22 mg/h production rate even when broadband lasers with bandwidth of 500 MHz are employed for the two step excitation. The simplified system requirements for the photoionization scheme combined with a high production rate of 176Lu than previously reported is expected to reduce the global shortage of 176Lu isotope for medical applications.