Gamma photon and charged particle shielding features of praseodymium based glass matrix

Radiation shielding features of TePr glass system for helpful gamma-rays have been computed through FLUKA Monte Carlo code and Phy-X/PSD database. Linear attenuation coefficients (LAC) obtained with Phy-X/PSD and FLUKA code are found to be in good harmony with utmost relative difference < 3.7%. Based upon various parameters investigated, TePr1.2 (with highest amount of praseodymium) is found to be best shielding glass composition among the samples fabricated in this study for gamma-rays as well as charged particle beam of protons. The half value layer for the five glass samples between 0.284 and 2.51 MeV was estimated and we found that the HVL increases in the order TePr1.2, TePr1, TePr0.5, TePr0.2, TePr0. The proposed new glass system is found to have better shielding ability than commercial glasses and bismuth sodium borate glasses. The mass stopping power (MSP) for the tested glasses was reported, and we observed that MSP values for all the TePr glasses are not differing significantly. For protons, the SRIM based MSP values for TePr1.2 rise swiftly from 0.0612 to 0.135 MeV cm2/mg for kinetic energy range 0.01-0.14 MeV then decline slowly upto 0.0183 MeV cm2/ mg at 10 MeV.

Automated summary

The radiation shielding features of the TePr glass system for gamma-rays have been studied and compared to commercial glasses. TePr1.2, with the highest amount of praseodymium, was found to be the best shielding glass composition. The proposed glass system showed better shielding ability than other commercial glasses.