Experimental determination of kQ factors for cylindrical ionization chambers in 10 cm x 10 cm and 3 cm x 3 cm photon beams from 4 MV to 25 MV

For the ionometric determination of absorbed dose to water, D-w, in megavoltage photon beams from a linear accelerator, beam-quality-dependent correction factors, k(Q), are used for the ionization chambers. By using a water calorimeter, these factors can be determined experimentally and with substantially lower standard uncertainties compared to calculated values of the k(Q), which are published in various dosimetry protocols. In this investigation, k(Q) for different types of cylindrical ionization chambers (NE 2561, NE 2571, FC 65 G) were determined experimentally in 10 cm x 10 cm photon beams from 4 MV to 25 MV (corresponding beam quality index TPR20,10 from 0.64 to 0.80). The measurements were carried out at the linear accelerator facility of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt. It is shown that the k(Q) factors for a single ionization chamber in 10 cm x 10 cm photon beams can be measured with a relative standard uncertainty of 0.31%. In addition to these measurements in 10 cm x 10 cm fields, k(Q) factors for the NE 2561 chamber were also determined in smaller 3 cm x 3 cm photon beams between 6 MV and 25 MV. In this case, relative standard uncertainties between 0.35 % and 0.38 % are achieved for the k(Q) factors. It is found for this ionization chamber, that the ratio of the k(Q) factors in 3 cm x 3 cm and in 10 cm x 10 cm beams increases with increasing TPR20,10 to reach a value of 1.0095 at TPR20,10 = 0.8 with a relative standard uncertainty of 0.4 %.