Production cross-sections of long-lived radionuclides in deuteron-induced reactions on natural zinc up to 23 MeV

Production cross-sections of long-lived radionuclides ^66,67Ga, ^64,67Cu, ^65,69mZn, and ^58m+gCo via a deuteron irradiation on a natural zinc target were measured up to 23 MeV using a stacked-foil activation technique combined with HPGe γ-ray spectrometry. The present results showed partial agreements with the earlier experimental cross-sections and also with the theoretical data extracted from the TENDL-2013 library. Physical thick target yields of the investigated radionuclides were deduced using the measured cross-sections, and they found agreements with the directly measured ones in the literatures except for those reported by Dmitriev et al. for ⁶⁵Zn. Optimal production pathways of the medically important ⁶⁷Ga radionuclide using a low energy cyclotron are discussed.