Developing new techniques for production of medical isotopes

This work advances accelerator-based methods for producing radionuclides that are essential for medicine and fundamental physics. The focus is on improving the availability of isotopes that underpin theranostics, diagnostic imaging and neutrino-source experiments. Within this landscape, the 64Cu/67Cu pair stands out as an almost ideal theranostic system: two chemically identical radionuclides that can be incorporated into matched radiopharmaceuticals, allowing seamless movement between diagnostic and therapeutic use. Despite these advantages, clinical deployment of 67Cu remains limited by its production routes, which typically involve low reaction yields and technically demanding or enriched targets. To address these constraints at the level of the nuclear reactions themselves, this thesis explores both proton- and photon-induced routes for 67Cu and 64Cu production, combining new experimental cross section data, nuclear model benchmarking and innovative target concepts. Proton irradiations of zinc and nickel at the Birmingham Cyclotron provided refined excitation functions. Complementary photonuclear studies at the MAMI facility then extended this approach to high-energy electron beams. These experiments delivered the first nuclear data on 67Cu production with high-energy bremsstrahlung photons and demonstrated that isotope production can be integrated parasitically into existing large-scale accelerator programmes without disrupting their primary physics goals. Under similar conditions, photonuclear production of another medical isotope and of 51Cr for neutrino-source applications was achieved, showing that cost-effective accelerator environments can supply isotopes that are traditionally obtained only from dedicated cyclotrons or reactors. Collectively, these studies provide new experimental nuclear data, validated reaction models and scalable production strategies. They broaden the technological basis for accessible theranostic and research radionuclides and point towards more flexible and efficient isotope supply chains.