Results on the Production of the Astrophysically-Relevant ⁴¹Ca and the Medically-Relevant ^43,44Sc from the Reaction of ³He on ^natCa

⁴¹Ca (t_1/2=9.94 x 10⁴ yrs) is an important stellar radionuclide as its production in the Early Solar System from various irradiation scenarios can help determine the viability of models of early stellar processes. A novel reaction technique has been under development and recently tested at the NSL at the University of Notre Dame. This technique utilizes an “in-cathode” reaction method, where natural CaF₂ material is packed into an ion source sample holder (cathode) and then irradiated and subsequently measured using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry without the need for any chemical processing. Multiple irradiations at various energies were performed using a ³He beam to measure the reaction ^natCa(³He,x)⁴¹Ca. In order to help quantify the amount of beam hitting the Cu cathode, all samples were placed in a gamma counting station after irradiation. The gamma spectra revealed noticeably distinct lines from ⁴³Sc and ⁴⁴Sc, encouraging an impromptu investigation into the production yields of these isotopes due to their significance as nuclear medical isotopes. This will be the first ever known result of thick target yields of the reactions ^natCa(³He,x)^43,44Sc. Results on the production of ⁴¹Ca, ⁴³Sc and ⁴⁴Sc will all be presented.