Research and developments toward radioactive 11C ion acceleration

An isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) system for radioactive C-11 ion beam acceleration is expected to be realized for a PET imaging simultaneously with the heavy-ion cancer therapy. In the ISOL scheme, C-11 molecules are firstly produced by irradiating boron compound target with proton beams (20 MeV, ~ 30 μA) provided by a small cyclotron. The C-11 molecules are separated from impurity molecules mixed into the target chamber during the proton irradiation. Then, 1+ ions are firstly produced from the purified C-11 molecules with the singly charged ion source. Finally, after the isotope separation with an analyzing magnet, the C+ ions are further ionized by employing an EBIS as a charge breeder to obtain required charge state for the HIMAC injector. We have been developed a C-11 molecular production/separation system to produce the C-11 molecules and separate it from the impurities. We have also been developed a new singly charged ion source to produce the 1+ ions. Moreover, a test irradiation port is being constructed at NIRS AVF930 cyclotron facility for on-line experiments to produce C-11 ions. Latest results on those developments and prospects of our ISOL scheme are to be presented.HIAT 201