MIVOC method with temperature control

Abstract

The Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences has been used for cancer therapy, physics, and biology experiments since 1994. Its ion sources produce carbon ion for cancer therapy. They also produce various ions (H(+)-Xe(21+)) for physics and biology experiments. Most ion species are produced from gases by an 18 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion source. However, some of ion species is difficult to produce from stable and secure gases. Such ion species are produced by the sputtering method. However, it is necessary to reduce material consumption rate as much as possible in the case of rare and expensive stable isotopes. We have selected "metal ions from volatile compounds method" as a means to solve this problem. We tested a variety of compounds. Since each compound has a suitable temperature to obtain the optimum vapor pressure, we have developed an accurate temperature control system. We have produced ions such as (58)Fe(9+), Co(9+), Mg(5+), Ti(10+), Si(5+), and Ge(12+) with the temperature control.

Recent developments of ion sources for life-science studies at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (invited)

“…We developed a thermal control system for the MIVOC container. 18 It is able to maintain a sufficient flow rate by increasing the temperature of the container. In addition, this control system was designed to decrease the consumptive rate of compounds by cooling.…”