A systematic, theoretical study of non-carrier added 64Cu production with low energy medical cyclotrons

64 Cu isotope finds increasing theranostic applications in PET and nuclear medicine therapies.Clinically relevant 64 Cu activities can be produced by proton irradiation of enriched metal targets.This work presents a systematic theoretical study of non-carrier added 64 Cu production pathways with Ni and Znenriched targets bombarded by protons accelerated by a low-energy medical cyclotron, evaluating thecontribution of all the competing channels when degrading proton energy, changing target thickness andirradiation or cooling times, with the aim of optimizing such parameters and providing an overview of 64 Cuproduction.64Cu production from 95% 64 Ni and 97% 67 Zn enriched targets were considered. Yields at the End OfBombardment (EOB) were calculated through TALYS code and an analytical computation based on theEXFOR experimental data libraries and on Bragg curves in targets evaluated with MCNPX Monte Carlo code.A validation of our theoretical estimations was obtained through a comparison with experimental data, whenavailable in literature.The comparison between the two investigated pathways allows to point out the potential advantages of eachmethod to be selected basing on the specific needs of production.