The Fundamental Gamma Rays and Charge Particle Interactions of the CeBr₃ Scintillator

Abstract

The research aims to study the primary interaction between gamma radiation in CeBr₃ crystal. The analysis of mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), effective atomic number (Z_eff), electron density (N_eff), mean free path (MFP), and energy absorption buildup factor (EABF) was evaluated using the using the WinXCom software. Also, the interaction with charged particles as the total mass stopping power (TMSP), projected range (PR) of proton (${}_1{}^{1}H$) and alpha (${}_2{}^{4}He$) particles were evaluated by SRIM programming. The results found that the MAC depends on the energy ranges, the photoelectric effect is the main interaction at low energy ranges, Compton scattering phenomena illustrate and evidents at intermediate energy ranges, and pair production characteristics dominate over on 1.022 MeV in high energy ranges. Moreover, absorption edges appear on energy’s discontinuity at low energy. The Z_eff and N_eff show similar trends and correspond to the energy ranges. The MFP of the CeBr₃ compared with some standard scintillators such as NaI and BGO crystal and found that the BGO responds to faster interaction than CeBr₃ and NaI crystals. The EABF shows scattering energies followed by atomic equivalent (Z_eq), and they also increase with increasing penetration depth (mfp). The TMSP and PR depend on charged particles, density, and the unit path distance of a material.

Keywords:

• CeBr₃ crystal
• gamma interactions
• charged particles interactions
• medical radiation detectors

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University (NPRU), Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI) and National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) for supporting this research. N. Sangwaranatee would like to thank Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University for supporting this research.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).