Radiation sensing properties of tellurite glasses belonging to ZnO–TeO2–PbO system using Geant4 code

Abstract

In this paper, the optical and shielding properties of TeO2 based glasses with chemical formula (100-x)(TeO2–PbO)- xZnO: x = 15, 17, 20, 22, and 25 mol% for potential use in radiation applications have been investigated. Metallization criterion, the optical electronegativity (Δχ*), the third order nonlinear optical susceptibility (χ(3)), and nonlinear refractive index for all investigated samples have been calculated. Results show that the aforementioned optical properties were depending on the ZnO content in the glass samples. The mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ) for the samples are simulated using by Geant4 code in the range of 0.122–1.33 MeV photon energy and compared with the theoretical results using WinXCOM program. The deviation between the theoretical values (WinXCOM) and simulated values (Geant4) is less than 8% and this confirms the accuracy of the present results. The effective atomic number (Zeff), half value layer (HVL), and mean free path (MFP) were evaluated. Moreover, the neutron shielding properties were evaluated by determining removal cross section for each involved glass. Results reveal that the present glasses have lower HVL values than that of ordinary concrete. Therefore, the present glasses can be used as a superior candidate for radiation shielding applications.