Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Mathematical and natural science department, Faculty of Engineering, Egyptian – Russian University, Egypt
2
Mathematics and Physics Department, Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, Egypt
3
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
4
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Port Said University, Egypt
Abstract
The development of radiation therapy necessitated continuous research and development (R&D) for radiotherapy rooms' glass windows to reach the highest levels of protection for the staff of the radiotherapy facility. Therefore, in this article, a novel type of lead borate glass depending on the parallel augmenting of lead and boron simultaneously was produced to be used as gamma-rays and thermal neutrons barriers in radiotherapy rooms. Thermal neutrons and gamma rays’ attenuation parameters, thermal neutron total cross section σ_T, mass attenuation coefficient σ, linear attenuation coefficient μ, half-value layer HVL, mean free path MFP, effective atomic number Zeff, effective electron density Neff, and buildup factor for energy absorption EABF and exposure EBF were studied extensively. Three tools, Phy-X/PSD, EpiXS, and XCOM computer programs as well as the standard mixture rules were utilized to estimate the attenuation parameters. A significant improvement in the gamma rays and thermal neutrons attenuation parameters was observed with the augmentation of lead and boron concentrations. A reduction in the HVL of the glass containing the highest concentration of Pb and B (40 mol% of Pb and 50 mol% of B) ranged between 42.425 and 97.761% for the studied gamma rays was observed, while the required HVL for thermal neutrons shrunk by 68.8%. Hence, the glass containing 40 mol% of Pb and 50 mol% of B was recommended to be a distinguished choice as a shield in the radiotherapy room.
Keywords
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