The Direct-Zeff software for direct calculation of mass attenuation coefficient, effective atomic number and effective electron number

Determination of the mass attenuation coefficient, AI p, the effective atomic number, Z(eff), and the effective electron number, N-eff, is very important in the fields of nuclear diagnostics, radiation protection, nuclear medicine and radiation dosimetry. In this work, the Direct-Z(eff) software was developed for the computation of the mass attenuation coefficient, the effective atomic number and the effective electron number per unit mass in the energy range 1 keV-100 GeV. The values of the Z(eff), N-eff and mu/rho can be determined for total photon interaction with and without coherent interaction as well as partial photon interactions such as coherent scattering, incoherent scattering, photoelectric absorption and pair production by using the Direct-Z(eff) software. The accuracy of the Direct-Z(eff) software has been demonstrated by comparing the calculated data and the experimental values for the various materials. The Direct-Z(eff) software can be freely obtained by contacting with the authors. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.