The nuclear reactions of deuteron are important in the production of isotopes in cyclotrons. They have the advantage that deuteron can easily be accelerated, and it can enter the target nucleus from the direction of the neutron, decreasing the Coulomb repulsion. When, in addition, the emitted particle is a proton,

An (d, p)A+)n (6.31)

the Coulomb barrier decreases to almost zero, so the cross section of the (d, p), or Philips—Oppenheimer reaction, is high. The (d, p) reaction takes place with all ele­ments. For example:

23Na(d, p)24Na (6.32)

The (d, p) reaction is analogous to the (n, Y) nuclear reaction, and the target and product nuclei are the same. Carrier-free isotopes cannot be produced directly. The product nuclide is rich in neutrons, emitting negative beta particles.

The (d, n) reactions are analogous to (p, Y) reactions: the atomic number of the product nucleus increases by 1, so the product is carrier-free and decomposes with positive beta decays or electron captures. For example:

9Be(d, n)10B

12C(d, n)13N (6.34)

56Fe(d, n)57Co (6.35)

Some of the (d, n) reactions, such as

2H(d, n)3He (6.36)

3H(d, n)4He (6.37)

7Li(d; n)24He (6.38)

9Be(d, n)10B (6.39)

are used in neutron sources.

The (d,2n) reactions are strongly endoergic, and they are analogous to (p, n) reactions. This means that there are relatively many protons in the product nucleus and the positive beta decay and electron capture are characteristic. They are used for isotope production as follows:

197Au(d; 2n)197Hg (6.40)

In the (d, a) nuclear reaction, carrier-free product nuclides with positive beta decays or electron captures can be produced mostly in exoergic reactions. For example:

24Mg(d, a)22Na (6.41)

56Fe(d, a)54Mn (6.42)

A special example of the (d, a) nuclear reaction is the 88Sr(d, a)86Rb (6.43)

reaction, where the product (86Rb) emits negative beta particles.