JET VAPOR DEPOSITION OF THICK FILMS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF RADIOACTIVE BEAMS OF CHEMICALLY ACTIVE ELEMENTS

RADIOACTIVE NUCLEAR BEAMS (RNBS) ARE POWERFUL TOOLS FOR RESEARCH IN NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS, AND FOR APPLICATIONS IN MEDICINE AND MATERIALS SCIENCE. IN THE UNITED STATES A LARGE LABORATORY FOR INTENSE RNBS IS CONTEMPLATED, AND SMALLER FACILITIES EXIST IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES; WORLDWIDE INTEREST IN RNBS REFLECTS THEIR POTENTIAL IMPORTANCE. RNBS ARE GENERATED WHEN HIGH ENERGY PROTON BEAMS INTERACT WITH SPECIALIZED, EXPENSIVE, ISOTOPICALLY ENRICHED TARGETS AND RELEASE SHORT-LIVED RADIOACTIVE SPECIES. A CRITICAL REQUIREMENT IS THAT PRODUCTS ESCAPE THE TARGET PROMPTLY LEST RADIOACTIVE DECAY DIMINISH BEAM INTENSITY. TARGET DESIGN IS COMPLICATED BY THE DEMANDS OF HIGH YIELD, EFFICIENT USE OF ISOTOPIC MATERIALS CHEMICALLY REACTIVE PRODUCTS AND PROMPT RELEASE. TARGETS FOR PRODUCTION OF RADIOACTIVE (14,15)O AND (17,18)F ARE CONSIDERED OF HIGHEST PRIORITY, BUT HAVE NOT BEEN MADE. PHASE I WILL SOLVE THIS PROBLEM BY USING A PROPRIETARY MJET VAPOR DEPOSITION (JVD) METHOD TO DEPOSIT MULTILAYER AND POROUS NANOCLUSTER THAN FILM RNB TARGETS. SUCCESS IN PHASE I WILL PROVIDE A UNIQUE JVD APPROACH TO RNB TARGET FABRICATION AND TWO NEW TYPES OF RNB TARGET. PHASES II AND III WILL LEAD TO JVD SCALE UP FOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF RNB TARGETS AND NANOSTRUCTURE SPINOFF PRODUCTS.