Journal article
Studies on effective atomic number, electron density and kerma for some fatty acids and carbohydrates
The effective atomic number, Z(eff), the effective electron density, N-el, and kerma have been calculated for some fatty acids and carbohydrates for photon interaction in the extended energy range from 1 keV to 100 GeV using an accurate database of photon-interaction cross sections and the WinXCom program.
The significant variation of Z(eff) and N-el is due to the variations in the dominance of different interaction processes in different energy regions. The maximum values of Z(eff) and N-el are found in the low-energy range, where photoelectric absorption is the main interaction process. The minimum values of Z(eff) and N-el are found at intermediate energies, typically 0.05 MeV
In this case, Z(eff) is equal to the mean atomic number of the bio-molecule. Wherever possible, the calculations are compared with experimental results. A comparison is also made with the single values of the Z(eff) and N-el provided by the program XMuDat. It is also observed that carbohydrates have a larger kerma than fatty acids in the low-energy region, where photoelectric absorption dominates.
In contrast, fatty acids have a larger kerma than carbohydrates in the MeV range, where Compton scattering is the main interaction process.
Language: | English |
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Year: | 2008 |
Pages: | N377-86 |
ISSN: | 13616560 and 00319155 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1088/0031-9155/53/20/N01 |