Preparation of radiotherapy glass by phosphorus ion implantation at 100 keV

A chemically durable glass containing a large amount of phosphorus is useful for in situ irradiation of cancers. It can be activated to be a beta emitter (half-life of 14.3 days) by neutron bombardment. Microspheres of the activated glass injected into the tumors can irradiate the tumors directly with beta rays without irradiating neighboring normal tissues. In the present study a P+ ion was implanted into a pure silica glass in a plate form at 100 keV in order to find the fundamental conditions for obtaining such a glass. Little phosphorus was present in the surface region, at least to a depth of 2.4 nm for doses of 5 x 10(16) and 1 x 10(17) cm-2, whereas an appreciable amount of it was distributed on the glass surface and a part of it was oxidized for doses above 5 x 10(17) cm-2. The glasses implanted with doses of 5 x 10(16) and 1 x 10(17) cm-2 hardly released the P and Si into water at 95 degrees C, even after 7 days, whereas the glasses implanted with doses above 5 x 10(17) cm-2 released appreciable amounts of these elements. Implantation energies of 20 and 50 keV (even at doses of 5 x 10(16) and 1 x 10(17) cm-2, respectively), formed oxidized phosphorus on the glass surfaces and gave appreciable release of the P and Si into the hot water. This indicates that a chemically durable glass containing a larger amount of phosphorus could be obtained if a P+ ion is implanted at higher energies to localize in a deeper region of the glass surface.