Mass Attenuation Coefficients and Effective Atomic Numbers of Strontium Borate Glass System in the Energy Range 0.01 - 1.25 MeV

摘要

Understanding the characterization of photon interaction is vital in nuclear science and technology field. The information obtained from mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ) and effective atomic numbers Z_(eff) are compared with the reference value for good interpretation of radiation interaction with matter. However, the methods of Z_(eff) calculation sometimes are confusing. In the present work, the total mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ)_T for photon interaction of Dy_2O_3 doped strontium borate glasses have been calculated using database tabulated by Hubbell and Seltzer, at the energies of 0.6 MeV and 1.25 MeV. For the calculation of the Z_(eff) the power law, cross section and Auto-Z_(eff) are selected for comparison purpose in the energy range of 0.01 - 1.25 MeV. The relationship between the (μ/ρ)_T and Z_(eff) clearly shows the increase in the value with the increase of Dy_2O_3 concentration. These variations are due to the major dominance of photoelectric effect and minor interaction of incoherent scattering. It is found that the calculation of Z_(eff) between cross section and power law method is comparable at photon energy less than 0.1 MeV. As photon energy exceeds 0.1 MeV, the cross section method and the Auto- Z_(eff) software are more preferred compared to the power law approach. It is recommended to use different approach of Z_(eff) calculation at the specific energy of interest.