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Attenuation coefficients of gamma and X-rays passing through six materials

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the attenuation of gamma and X-rays with different energies caused by passage through different materials. To this end, different materials with a range of atomic numbers were chosen to measure gamma and X-ray attenuation coefficients and to explore the mechanisms of interaction of gamma and X-rays with matter of various kinds. It is shown that the attenuation coefficients first decrease and then increase with increase in the radiation (photon) energy. The attenuation of gamma and X-rays passing through materials with high atomic number is greater than that in materials with low atomic number. The attenuation minimum is related to the atomic number of the irradiated materials. The larger the atomic number is, the lower the energy corresponding to attenuation minimum is. Photoelectric and Compton effects are the main processes when gamma rays pass through individual materials with high and low atomic numbers, respectively. Therefore, for radiotherapy and radiation protection, different methods should be considered and selected for the use of gamma and X-rays of different energies for use in different materials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics and Nuclear Energy Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Xue-Dou Su, Gao-Long Zhang, Lin Song, Yu-Hua Huang, Ben Wang, Yi-Feng Wang, Ze-Tao Zhang, Wu-Fu Xu & Ming-Li Wang

  2. Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Big Data-Based Precision Medicine, Beihang University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Gao-Long Zhang

  3. Department of Radiation Oncology, PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China

    Shou-Ping Xu

  4. State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Wei-Wei Qu

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  1. Xue-Dou Su
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Correspondence to Gao-Long Zhang.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11475013, 11975040 and U1832130).

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Su, XD., Zhang, GL., Xu, SP. et al. Attenuation coefficients of gamma and X-rays passing through six materials. NUCL SCI TECH 31, 3 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-019-0717-9

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