Optimization of ¹²⁴I production via ¹²⁴Te(p,n)¹²⁴I reaction

¹²⁴I was produced, via ¹²⁴Te(p,n)¹²⁴I reaction, in greater than 3.7 GBq (100 mCi, EOB) amount by bombarding ¹²⁴TeO₂ targets at 24 μA current for about 8 h. This was achieved by keeping the target at 37° relative to the beam during irradiation, by sweeping the beam across the target and by keeping the incident energy of the proton at 14.1 MeV. The time-averaged yield of our 8 h run was 21.1 MBq/μA h (0.57 mCi/μA h), which was 90% of the theoretical yield calculated using thick target yield data obtained from the reported excitation function for the reaction. At the end of bombardment, the level of ¹²⁵I and ¹²⁶I impurities, co-produced with ¹²⁴I, were 0.03% and 0.007%, respectively.