On the production of radium E and polonium by deuteron bombardment of bismuth

Using deuterons of energies up to 4.4 MeV, Livingood (1936) observed the production of Ra E from bismuth by observing the α-particles from the polonium to which Ra E decays. The Cambridge cyclotron has been used to examine the above reaction in more detail at energies up to 9 MeV. The work of Livingood was confirmed and in addition another reaction, the direct production of Po by a (d, n) reaction, was found to occur. The variation of yield with energy has also been determined for these two nuclear reactions.