Production of Medical Radionuclides: Spark Plasma Sintering Technique for Cyclotron Solid Target Manufacturing

The Spark Plasma Sintering Technique (SPS) (or Field Assisted Sintering Technique (FAST) or Pulsed Electric Current Sintering (PECS)) is a versatile technique used in different application fields due to its advantages. In the framework of the LARAMED project at Legnaro National Laboratories of INFN (National Institute for Nuclear Physics) it was used, for the first time, for manufacturing cyclotron targets for the production of medical radionuclides aimed at the development of novel radiopharmaceutical for nuclear medicine. In this work, the first feasibility studies performed with different materials (Cr, Y, Au, Nb, ZnO) realized by using a new prototype SPS machine appropriately designed for this purpose, in collaboration with the University of Pavia, are presented. The microstructural interface investigations, aimed at evaluating the manufacturing process capabilities and properties of the obtained targets, were performed in collaboration with the metallurgy group of the University of Padova.