Parametrization of the total photon mass attenuation coefficients in the energy range 0.1-1000 keV

Abstract

It is convenient to generate mass attenuation coefficients using semi-empirical schemes. The validity of most of the existing schemes is limited to a relatively narrow energy interval (1-40 keV) and their accuracies are poor in some energy regions. In this work, a semi-empirical scheme flexible enough to give a good fit to data in a very wide photon energy range (0.1-1000 keV) was employed. Fitting coefficients for the entire range were obtained by utilizing mass attenuation data from two sources: (1) semi-empirical data of Henke et al. in the low photon energy region, and (2) theoretical values generated with the XCOM code for fitting in the high energy region. The root mean square of the fit is generally less than 0.2% except for energies below 1 keV where the available data are scattered. A computer code for generating mass attenuation coefficients based on the proposed scheme has been developed. © 1993.