Precision Carbon Foils for Cyclotron Systems
ACF-Metals provides state-of-the-art carbon foils mounted on your choice of cyclotron fork! Our foils are the most common stripper foils (charge-changing foils) and target supporting foils used in radio-pharmaceutical manufacturing applications and research involving particle accelerators.
ACF foils provide extended lifetimes and maximized effectiveness. Having the exact foil you need prepared on your mount means reduced downtime and increasing overall productivity for both research and commercial applications.
Our in-house technical team is prepared to answer questions and provide ideas and feedback regarding your application.
State-of-the-Art Mounted Stripper Foils (research and commercial applications)
We know that our customers and their patients depend on the quality and availability of our stripper/extractor foils in order to have consistent availability of the radiopharmaceuticals they need. ACF-Metals keeps all standard thicknesses in stock at all times to ensure rapid availability of both mounted and unmounted foils.
We provide arc-evaporated (ACF & XCF), polycrystalline graphite (PCG), and Graphene foils (GBEF) mounted on cyclotron forks. Customers select the type of foil, thickness, and style of mount they wish to use. Collodion coating of foils and other custom requests are available. Users are experiencing extended lifetimes with multi-layer foils on cyclotron forks, please ask for information. Multi-layer foils are stronger and have virtually no pinholes.
Technical Information
Customers have the choice of the type of material they would like to use. Standard forks are generally made from aluminum alloy #6061. However, other options are available including graphite, tungsten, titanium, and others.
ACF-Metals utilizes several different techniques for fastening foils to cyclotron forks and other mounts. Generally, each foil is mounted with one free edge. The preferred method is the use of a proprietary high temperature epoxy, stable to temperatures of 150°C and indefinitely at room temperature. For applications which require stability at much higher temperatures, our technicians use a specially prepared graphite paint to adhere the foil to its support. For some situations, adhesives must be avoided and the foils are clamped (sandwiched) within a specialized fork/mount design. Whatever your requirements may be, ACF-Metals looks forward to discussing them with you in order to provide the optimal solution.
Areal Density, Purity, & Foil Characteristics: Please see specifics in...
Foils mounted on cyclotron forks are packaged in protective plastic tubes for easy identification and handling. The tubes are then padded and placed in a steel acoustic shield inside the shipping carton. ACF-Metals' commitment is that your order of mounted foils will arrive at your location, anywhere in the world, without damage.
Mounted carbon foils have no known limit on their shelf life! However, as with other fragile materials, care should always be taken to keep the foils from excess vibrations, air currents, electrostatic attraction, and contact with other materials.
Quantity discounts are available on single shipments of carbon foils of the same size and areal density: 5% (quantity of 100+) or 10% (quantity of 1000+). Please contact ACF-Metals directly to place orders that would involve this discount.
Please request a FREE COPY of our PRODUCT INFORMATION, for elaboration on the above highlights and for additional helpful information!
Technical Information
Areal Density
Standard foils are regularly available from stock. They are categorized by their areal density, with minimal variation (+/- 10% or +/- 0.2µg/sq.cm for the thinnest foils). Tighter tolerances are available by quote. The areal density of our foils, also known as surface density, specific density, or mass per unit area, is in units of micrograms per square centimeter. Foils are measured optically and/or by weighing in order to maximize accuracy. Please see the ACF-Metals' "Product Information" for more properties of these foils, especially for information regarding flatness, smoothness, and light-tightness.
Collodion Option
Foils below 5.0µg/sq.cm may be difficult to mount over apertures larger than a few mm in diameter. When requested, ACF-Metals will add an additional coating of collodion on one side of the carbon foil. This provides additional support for the foil, and for some users, a longer foil lifetime.
Light Tightness
In order to minimize issues associated with naturally occurring pinholes, some investigators will use multiple layers of carbon foils. Light tightness may be particularly important when foils are used as optical filters, neutralizer foils, and windows for low-pressure gas-cell targets. ACF-Metals offers layered carbon foils in certain thicknesses. Note: Pinholes are observed to form spontaneously in hybrid type boron-carbon foils at temperatures above 1800 K, another reason why ACF-Metals does not offer hybrid foils.
Additional Savings
Quantity discounts are available on single shipments of carbon foils of the same size and areal density: 5% (quantity of 100+) or 10% (quantity of 1000+). Please contact ACF-Metals directly to place orders that would involve this discount.
Please request a FREE COPY of our PRODUCT INFORMATION, for elaboration on the above highlights and for additional helpful information!
