Characteristics of lead glass for radiation protection purposes: A Monte Carlo study

Abstract

Background: Lead glass has a wide variety of applications in radiation protection. This study aims to investigate some characteristics of lead glass such as the γ-ray energy-dependent mass and linear attenuation coefficients, the half-value layer thickness, and the absorbed dose distribution for specific energy. Materials and Methods: The attenuation parameters of different lead glass types against high-energy photons (0.2-3 MeV) of gamma rays have been calculated by the Monte Carlo technique and a deterministic method. Besides, the depth dose distribution inside the volume of two cubic lead glass samples was calculated by two Monte Carlo-based computer codes, for gamma rays of 300 keV. In each part of the study, the results of the two methods have been compared. Results: Increasing the Pb concentration (weight in %) by 1% in the lead glass causes a 1.6%-3% increase in the linear attenuation coefficient, depending on the energy. However, the mass attenuation coefficient does not show significant variation for different types of lead glass, especially for the energies higher than 400 keV. Moreover, almost half of the total dose from 300 keV photons will be absorbed in the first 3.5 mm of the sample’s thickness. Conclusion: Results indicate that the Monte Carlo technique is as reliable as the deterministic methods for calculating the attenuation characteristics of the lead glass. The provided data in this investigation can be useful for radiation protection purposes, especially in the case of selecting the lead glass type and dimension based on a specific application.