https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2015-15185-2
Regular Article
Photonuclear reactions with zinc: A case for clinical linacs
1
Department of Physics, Akdeniz University, TR-07058, Antalya, Turkey
2
Nuclear Research and Application Center, Akdeniz University, TR-07058, Antalya, Turkey
3
Department of Radiation Oncology, Akdeniz University, TR-07058, Antalya, Turkey
4
Department of Chemistry, Akdeniz University, TR-07058, Antalya, Turkey
5
GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research, Planckstrasse 1, 64291, Darmstadt, Germany
6
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, J.J.Becherweg 40, 55099, Mainz, Germany
7
The Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM), J.J.Becherweg 40, 55099, Mainz, Germany
8
Department of Physics, Bogazici University, 34342, Istanbul, Turkey
9
Nigde University, 51100, Nigde, Turkey
10
KVI-CART, University of Groningen, 9747 AA, Groningen, The Netherlands
* e-mail: haris@akdeniz.edu.tr
Received:
4
June
2015
Revised:
14
August
2015
Accepted:
20
August
2015
Published online:
14
September
2015
The use of bremsstrahlung photons produced by a linac to induce photonuclear reactions is wide spread. However, using a clinical linac to produce the photons is a new concept. We aimed to induce photonuclear reactions on zinc isotopes and measure the subsequent transition energies and half-lives. For this purpose, a bremsstrahlung photon beam of 18MeV endpoint energy produced by the Philips SLI-25 linac has been used. The subsequent decay has been measured with a well-shielded single HPGe detector. The results obtained for transition energies are in good agreement with the literature data and in many cases surpass these in accuracy. For the half-lives, we are in agreement with the literature data, but do not achieve their precision. The obtained accuracy for the transition energies show what is achievable in an experiment such as ours. We demonstrate the usefulness and benefits of employing clinical linacs for nuclear physics experiments.
© Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2015