Gamma photons attenuation features of PbO-doped borosilicate glasses: a comparative evaluation

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the possibility of improving the ?-photons attenuation traits of a new type of borosilicate glass system (x)PbO: 0.12B2O3:(0.8-x) SiO2: 0.08K2O (where: x = 0, 0.05, 0.15, 0.3, 0.5 wt.) prepared using various doping concentrations of PbO. The mass attenuation coefficient (µ/?) of the proposed glass system over the entire ?-photon energy range (0.005–3 MeV) was improved due to doping. Glass with the highest doping concentration achieved the optimum values for µ/?, µ, aa, Zeff and Neff. The lowest values of MFP and HVL for the glasses were observed in the mid ?-photons energy region. In addition, the RPE values of the glasses were significantly enhanced with the increase in PbO content and reduced with the increase of ?-photons energy. The computed values of various radiative parameters like µ/?, µ, MFP, RPE, HVL, aa, Zeff. and Neff derived from XMuDat and XCOM programs were in good agreement with the theoretical values acquired using the Phy-X software. The proposed glass system may be useful as a high-performance radiation shield.