Investigation of the gamma and neutron radiation properties of strontium bismuth borate glasses doped with neodymium ions using the Geant4 simulation toolkit and EpiXS software

Abstract

In this study, the shielding capabilities of glasses made of B2O3 Bi2O3 SrO Nd2O3 have been investigated for use in radiation protection applications. Therefore, to simulate the mass attenuation coefficient for the glass samples A, B, C, D, E, and F, we utilized the Monte Carlo simulation Geant4 code. The findings of the simulated mass attenuation (µm) were compared with those that the EpiXS software had theoretically predicted for photon energies between 30 and 2000 KeV. The simulated µm findings and the EpiXS received data were found to be in good agreement. Based on the simulated µm, it was possible to determine the linear attenuation coefficients (µ), effective atomic number (Zeff), effective electron density (Neff), half-value layer Δ0.5, and mean free path (MFP). With an increase in photon energy and a rise in the (mol percent) proportion of Nd2O3, the µm value fell. Due to its greater values of the linear attenuation coefficient, effective atomic number, and lower values of Δ0.5 and MFP, it is discovered that the F glass with 5.7 (mol. percent) concentration of Nd2O3 has superior gamma-ray shielding effectiveness. Additionally, the effectiveness of the chosen glasses in neutron shielding was assessed in this paper. The Monte Carlo simulation Geant4 code was used to determine the effective removal cross-section (cm−1). As a result of having the highest effective removal cross-section and the lowest HVL at energy 0.5 MeV, it is determined that the F Glass with a 47.2 (mol. percent) concentration of B2O3 and 5.7 (mol. percent) concentration of Nd2O3 has higher neutron shielding qualities than the other glass samples that were chosen.