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Lecture-30 Linear Absorption Coefficient

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16 views13 pages

Lecture-30 Linear Absorption Coefficient

Uploaded by

anushka.jain1076
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Nuclear Science and Engineering

(16B1NPH535)
Module-5
Interaction of nuclear
radiation with matter

Dr. Manoj
Tripathi
Linear absorption coefficient
When a radiation enters a material its intensity goes down.
The rate with which the intensity of the radiation decrease depends upon the nature of the
material and its thickness.
As the thickness of the materials will be increased the intensity of the radiation will be lowered
and consequently the energy will also be decreased.
Linear absorption coefficient
Monochromatic photons are attenuated exponentially in a uniform target.

The number of photons in a pencil beam interact within a small


distance dx is

where µ is the linear attenuation coefficient and the solution to the


above differential equation is

exp(-µx) is simply the probability of a photon penetrating a distance x


without interaction.
Linear absorption coefficient

Linear attenuation coefficient (µ) is a constant that


describes the fraction of attenuated incident photons
in a mono energetic beam per unit thickness of a
material.

It includes all possible interactions including coherent


scatter, Compton scatter and photoelectric effect 1.

Its complement is the transmitted portion of the


beam. It is expressed numerically in units of cm-1

Linear attenuation coefficient increases with


increasing atomic number and increasing physical
density of the absorbing material. It decreases with
increasing photon energy.
Linear absorption coefficient

When Gamma radiation passes through matter, it undergoes absorption primarily by


Compton, photoelectric and pair production interactions.
The intensity of the radiation is thus decreased as a function of thickness of the
absorbing material. The mathematical expression for intensity ( I ) is given by the
following expression

Where Ix is the intensity at depth of x cm, I0 is the original


Ix=I0.e −μx
intensity, and µ is the linear attenuation coefficient​.

Rearranging and taking the log of both sides we can μ = ln(Io/Ix)/x


get the equation for µ.
Linear absorption coefficient

Linear attenuation coefficient for a given material comprises the individual


contributions from various physical processes

Mass attenuation coefficient is simply defined as

The mass attenuation coefficient is used to partially remove the dependence on


different atomic compositions and densities, and provides in an unified measure of
photon attenuation amongst various materials
Linear absorption coefficient

Atomic attenuation coefficient (cross section per atom) – the probability that a
photon is removed from the beam, when passing normally through a layer of material
containing one atom per unit area.

The atomic attenuation coefficient is also called the microscopic cross section of an
atom in the absorber material. It is the microscopic “target area” sustained by an atom
in the absorber
Linear absorption coefficient

Atomic attenuation coefficient (microscopic cross section per atom) µA(σ) can be related to the linear
attenuation coefficient (µ) as the following

where

The linear attenuation coefficient (μl) for a mixture of materials or an alloy is given by
Linear absorption coefficient

HVL

HVL or half value layer is the thickness of the


substance to reduce the intensity of the incoming
radiation by half.

𝑙𝑛 2
HVL=
𝜇
0.693
HVL=
𝜇

HVL is a function of the absorption coefficient μ and since this μ is a material property so the
HVL purely depends upon the material and it does not depend upon the intensity of the
incoming radiation
Numerical Problem
5 x 106 gamma photons each of energy 6000 keV incident o a lead shielding of thickness 2 m.
How many will be able to pass through. Given μ = 0.125 cm.-1.
Numerical Problem
How thick a lead shield should be so that it reduces the intensity of gamma photons of energy
600keV by a factor of 1000? (Consider Given μ = 0.125 cm-1)
Numerical Problem

The linear attenuation coefficient

No. of Cu atoms per cm3 in the alloy is

No. of Al atoms per cm3 in the alloy is


Numerical Problem

The linear attenuation coefficient is

The linear attenuation coefficient is

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