THE SPECTRA OF X RAYS SCATTERED IN LOW ATOMIC NUMBER MATERIALS

Abstract

An examination of the methods for calculating the intensity flux of scattered radiation from x-ray beams in low atomic number materials indicated that the most feasible approach consists of a combination of analytic and Monte Carlo methods. The contribution of once-scattered radiation is calculated analytically and added to the results for multiple scatter. This method was used to study the penetration of x rays of 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1250 kev radiation into semi-infinite scatterers to depths up to three mean free paths. The intensity spectra are presented for the penetration of radiation from an infinite plane parallel source in a Compton scatterer, water, and aluminium and for the penetration of beams of various areas in water. Build-up factors and depth doses were calculated from these spectra. All data presented apply to the axis of the beam. (auth)