Production of Short-Lived Positron-Emitting Radioactive Nuclei Using a 2.4 TW, 50 fs Tabletop Laser

Abstract

We produced a short-lived positron-emitting radioisotope 13 N by using MeV-order deuterons emitted from relativistic laser plasma generated by a tabletop laser. For generation of the plasma, laser pulses with a peak power of 2.4 TW and a pulse duration of 50 fs were focused with a 10 Hz repetition rate onto a microporous polytetrafluoroethylene film loaded with deuterated polystyrene, where the maximum intensity at the focal point was 3 ×10 18 W/cm 2 . The irradiation of melamine resins by deuterons for 55 s produced 13 N of 1.00 ±014 Bq through a nuclear reaction of 12 C(d,n) 13 N. This is the first report on an actual activation using a table-sized femtosecond laser.