Abstract The 63Zn is an important positron emitting radionuclide for using in PET. The theoretical models, TALYS-1.6 and EMPIRE-3.2.2, were used to construct the excitation functions for proton, deuteron, and alpha particle induced reactions on different targets. The results were compared with the reported experimental data and with the theoretical values obtained from the TENDL-2014 database. Stopping powers were calculated using SRIM 2013 code for each reaction. The 63Zn production yields were estimated using calculated cross sections and stopping powers. It has been verified that 63Cu(p,n)63Zn reaction is the optimum 63Zn production route.
