An Introduction to the Passage of Energetic Particles through Matter

Making modern data more accessible, this book explores the interactions with matter of energetic particles, including photons, electrons, protons, alpha particles, and neutrons. It presents quantities of interest in many applications, such as cross sections, charged particle stopping powers, electron mean ranges, and angular distributions. The book also discusses electron multiple scattering and models for electron mean range against both stopping power and scattering. The author uses numerous graphs to illustrate the material, and the accompanying CD-ROM includes full datasets and large, color contour graphs of cross sections, stopping powers, and ranges in all elements at all interesting energies.

Identifying where to access data, extracting a needed subset from available resources, and knowing how to interpret the format in which data are presented can be time-consuming tasks for scientists and engineers. By collecting all of this information and providing a background in physics, An Introduction to the Passage of Energetic Particles through Matter enables specialists and nonspecialists alike to understand and apply the data. Making modern data more accessible, this book explores the interactions with matter of energetic particles, including photons, electrons, protons, alpha particles, and neutrons. It presents quantities of interest in many applications, such as photon and neutron cross sections, charged particle stopping powers, electron mean ranges, and angular distributions. The book also discusses electron multiple scattering and models for electron mean range against both stopping power and scattering. The author uses numerous graphs throughout the book to illustrate the material and describes the basic physics underlying all processes. The accompanying CD-ROM includes full datasets and large color contour graphs of cross sections, stopping powers, and ranges in all elements at all interesting energies. Compiling information that is scattered throughout the literature, An Introduction to the Passage of Energetic Particles through Matter provides a comprehensive foundation of particle interactions that is of prime importance to many areas of applied physics and supplies an introduction to the massive, invaluable Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF) library.

INTRODUCTION Background Charged vs. Neutral Particles Terminology Distribution Function and Flux Reaction Rates in Planar and Omnidirectional Fluxes Energy Spectrum and Spectral Fluence References PHOTONS Long Wavelengths Short Wavelengths Photon Interactions Photoelectric Absorption Coherent Rayleigh Scattering Compton Scattering Pair Production Total Photon Cross Sections Attenuation and Energy Deposited in Target Material Electron Flux from Photon Flux—The “1% Rule” Dosimetric Quantities for Gammas and X-Rays Sources of Cross Section Data Large Contour Plots Data on the CD-ROM References ELECTRONS Introduction Elastic Scattering of an Electron from an Atom Inelastic Scattering of an Electron from an Atom Electron Energy Loss Collisional Energy Loss Radiative Energy Loss Total Energy Loss and Mean Range against Total Stopping Power Multiple Angular Scattering Cross Sections in Selected Elements Electrons in Low Pressure Air Large Contour Plots Data on the CD-ROM References PROTONS AND HEAVIER IONS Background Principal Results of Ion Stopping Power Theory Ion Stopping Power in Compounds Proton and Alpha Particle Stopping Power in Selected Materials Proton–Nucleus Elastic Scattering Large Contour Plots References SELECTED TOPICS ON NEUTRON INTERACTIONS Introduction Neutron Energy and Reaction Nomenclature Good Neutron Absorbers The Case of Gd157 Cross Section Dependence on Target Temperature Neutrons in Silicon Neutron Lifetime in Air Neutron Cross Sections in Selected Isotopes References APPENDICES Useful Constants and Defined Units Useful Internet Web Sites