MeV ion generation by an ultra-intense short-pulse laser: application to positron emitting radionuclide production

A new method is proposed for producing F-18, a positron emitter, via O-18(p , n)F-18 reactions with fast protons from the interaction of a relativistic ally-intense short-pulse laser with an underdense plasma layer. The fast io n concentration contributing to the nuclear reaction is estimated on the ba sis of a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. The instantaneous pro duction rate of F-18 is found to be two orders of magnitude larger than by the standard method using a cyclotron.