Cross section of the 96Zr(α,n)99Mo reaction induced by α-particles beams on natZr targets.

The excitation function of the 96Zr (α,n)99Mo reaction was determined using the stacked-foil activation technique. For the experiments, two stacks with metal foils of Cu, Ti and Zr of natural isotopic composition were irradiated independently with a 27.2 MeV α-particle beam. The characteristics of the primary beam and its verification along each stack were determined according to the well-known natCu(α,x)65Zn, natCu(α,x)66,67Ga, and natTi (α,x)51Cr monitor reactions. It was deduced that the expected production yield from 99Mo by irradiating 96Zr targets with a 23.8 MeV alpha particle beam for 1 h is 1.77 MBq/µA. According to the results, irradiation characteristics are proposed to produce 99Mo with high specific activity.