Gamma-Ray Sensing Properties of Nd Doped Phosphate Glasses

Abstract

Five selected Nd2O3 doped phosphate glass compositions are synthesized using melt quench technique. The physical properties such as density (ρ) and molar volume (Vm) are experimentally measured. The density increases whereas molar volume decreases with addition of Nd2O3 content. The radiation sensing properties for these rare earth (RE) element doped phosphate glass samples have been investigated. The photon attenuation and sensing parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient (μm), linear attenuation coefficient (μL), optimum thickness range (x opt), effective atomic number (Zeff), and mean free path (mfp) values are computed over wide gamma-ray energy range 1keV -100 GeV within framework of WinXCom software tool. The photon sensing properties of these rare earth doped phosphate glasses vary significantly on account of neodymium oxide content and photon energy. The mean free path (mfp) values of glass samples are found to decrease while the mass attenuation coefficient values rise as Nd2O3 concentration does.