Abstract: An optical system for producing a structured optical beam including a convex lens having a spherical or cylindrical entry surface, an electromagnetic radiation source configured to provide a substantially coherent beam of electromagnetic radiation, and a focusing element arranged along the optical axis of the optical system. The electromagnetic radiation source is arranged to produce an illuminating beam which illuminates the convex lens over a selected illumination fraction of the spherical or cylindrical entry surface and with a corresponding selected focus of the illuminating beam such that the beam traverses a sufficient refractive volume of the convex lens to produce aberrations in the beam emerging from the convex lens such that it comprises a structured optical beam. The system and method allows for generating a structured beam which can propagate over the large distances while maintaining a well-defined cross-section intensity distribution.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an universal method for the large scale production of high-purity carrier free or non carrier added radioisotopes by applying a number of “unit operations” which are derived from physics and material science and hitherto not used for isotope production. A required number of said unit operations is combined, selected and optimized individually for each radioisotope production scheme. The use of said unit operations allows a batch wise operation or a fully automated continuous production scheme. The radioisotopes produced by the inventive method are especially suitable for producing radioisotope-labelled bioconjugates as well as particles, in particular nanoparticles and microparticles.