Gamma-ray, fast neutron and charged particle shielding performance of 15Li2O-25BaO-(40-x)B2O3-20P2O5-xDy2O3 glass system

Abstract

Gamma-ray, fast neutron and charged particle shielding characteristics of Dy3＋ activated glasses with composition 15Li2O-25BaO-(40-x)B2O3-20P2O5-xDy2O3 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 mol%) are analyzed in a wide incident energy for the first time. For gamma-ray shielding analysis, mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), mass energy absorption coefficient (μen), linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), mean free path (MFP), half-value layer (HVL), atomic cross-section (ACS), electronic cross-section (ECS), effective atomic number (Zeff), equivalent atomic number (Zeq), effective conductivity (Ceff), effective electron density (Neff), buildup factors (EABF and EBF), and kinetic energy released per unit mass of the absorbing material (KERMA) are calculated by using Phy-X/PSD and PAGEX softwares. For fast neutrons, fast neutron removal cross-section (FNRCS) is computed for all glass samples. For charged particle shielding analysis, mass stopping power (MSP), projected range (Rp), radiation yield (Ry), Zeff and Neff are computed using SRIM, ESTAR and PAGEX softwares. It is found that the glasses with increasing Dy3＋ have higher shielding potential. This suggests that the LBPDy1.0 sample has a potential use as shielding material for various applied fields.