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PreprintCC BY-NC-ND 4.0arXiv

Direct Production of Ultra-High Radioisotopic Pure 64Cu from Natural Zinc Metal via D-D Fusion Narrowband Fast Neutron Source Irradiation

  • Jeremy M. C. Brown
  • Mantas Grigalavicius
  • Tibor Gilinger
  • Adam Kovacs
  • Parvin Varmazyar
  • Hsin-Hui Huang
  • Saulius Juodkazis
  • Mikas Vengris
  • Darius Gailevicius
  • Karoly Osvay
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Copper-64 radiopharmaceuticals have seen limited clinical deployment primarily due to the high cost of the isotopically enriched 64Ni metal required for its production. In this work we demonstrate that ultra-high radioisotopic pure 64Cu can be directly produced in a no-carrier-added-form from natural zinc metal through irradiation with D-D fusion narrowband fast neutron sources. A highly controlled D-D fusion narrowband fast neutron source at the ELI-ALPS Laser Facility was deployed to irradiate encapsulated 99.995\% pure natural zinc for 1 hour. Time-resolved gamma-ray spectroscopy of the irradiated sample over 72 hours was deployed to assess copper radioisotope activity. 64Cu was the only copper radioisotope detected within the irradiated sample, with a minimum and Minimum Detection Activity (MDA) threshold-corrected 64Cu radioisotopic purity of 99.62\% and 99.97\% respectively. Our result illustrates that highly controlled D-D fusion narrowband fast neutron sources have the potential to reduce the raw material production costs for 64Cu radiopharmaceuticals on the order of 2000 times. Cheaper 64Cu radiopharmaceuticals will increase their use in clinical practice, and, in-turn, increase outcomes for cancer patients receiving radionuclide therapy.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{brown2026direct,
  title = {{Direct Production of Ultra-High Radioisotopic Pure $^64$Cu from Natural Zinc Metal via D-D Fusion Narrowband Fast Neutron Source Irradiation}},
  author = {Jeremy M. C. Brown and Mantas Grigalavicius and Tibor Gilinger and Adam Kovacs and Parvin Varmazyar and Hsin-Hui Huang and Saulius Juodkazis and Mikas Vengris and Darius Gailevicius and Karoly Osvay},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.31340},
  eprint = {2610.31340},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31340},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Direct Production of Ultra-High Radioisotopic Pure ^64Cu from Natural Zinc Metal via D-D Fusion Narrowband Fast Neutron Source Irradiation
AU  - Jeremy M. C. Brown
AU  - Mantas Grigalavicius
AU  - Tibor Gilinger
AU  - Adam Kovacs
AU  - Parvin Varmazyar
AU  - Hsin-Hui Huang
AU  - Saulius Juodkazis
AU  - Mikas Vengris
AU  - Darius Gailevicius
AU  - Karoly Osvay
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/22
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.31340
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31340
AB  - Copper-64 radiopharmaceuticals have seen limited clinical deployment primarily due to the high cost of the isotopically enriched ^64Ni metal required for its production. In this work we demonstrate that ultra-high radioisotopic pure ^64Cu can be directly produced in a no-carrier-added-form from natural zinc metal through irradiation with D-D fusion narrowband fast neutron sources. A highly controlled D-D fusion narrowband fast neutron source at the ELI-ALPS Laser Facility was deployed to irradiate encapsulated 99.995\% pure natural zinc for 1 hour. Time-resolved gamma-ray spectroscopy of the irradiated sample over 72 hours was deployed to assess copper radioisotope activity. ^64Cu was the only copper radioisotope detected within the irradiated sample, with a minimum and Minimum Detection Activity (MDA) threshold-corrected ^64Cu radioisotopic purity of 99.62\% and 99.97\% respectively. Our result illustrates that highly controlled D-D fusion narrowband fast neutron sources have the potential to reduce the raw material production costs for ^64Cu radiopharmaceuticals on the order of 2000 times. Cheaper ^64Cu radiopharmaceuticals will increase their use in clinical practice, and, in-turn, increase outcomes for cancer patients receiving radionuclide therapy.
ER  -