Possible PET isotope production using linear deuteron accelerators

PET isotopes like 11C and 18F may be produced in deuteron-induced reactions using linear deuteron accelerators for energies 2–2.5 MeV. It is shown that the yield of PET isotopes in reactions 10B(d,n)11C and 20Ne(d,a)18F may be higher than the yield of the same isotopes in proton-induced reactions at higher energies, where protons are accelerated by a cyclotron. The lower cost and smaller size of linear accelerators make deuteron-induced reactions very promising for industrial PET production.