Yogesh K.

Vermani* and Tejbir Singh

Department of Physics, Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University, Fatehgarh Sahib-140407, INDIA
*
Email ID: yugs80@gmail.com

Abstract
The bismuth based non- toxic and lead-free alloys have been investigated for their radiation shielding

characteristics. For this study, we selected five bismuth containing alloys with compositions:

Bi50Sn(50 − 𝑥)Zn𝑥, where 𝑥 = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 wt. % . A comparative analysis of different alloy

compositions has been done by simulating the radiation attenuation and radiation absorption parameters

over wide photon energy range from 1 keV to 20 MeV. The mass attenuation coefficient values

computed by theoretical approach using the WinXCom software package shows marked difference from

the mass energy-absorption coefficient values particularly in the energy regime dominated by the

Compton effect (CE). Effective atomic number for the total photon interaction ZPIeff and for photon-

energy absorption ZPEAeff are determined for different alloy compositions. Binary alloy composition

Bi50Sn50 is reported to exhibit maximal mean ZPIeff and ZPEAeff values indicating its better radiation

shielding capacity as compared to other alloys compositions studied. The optimum thickness range

extracted using the mass attenuation coefficient and mass energy-absorption coefficient values showed

saturation with respect to photon energy spanning Compton effect (CE) and pair-production (PP)

processes. KERMA relative to air calculations indicated significant influence of the elemental

composition of alloys in the intermediate photon energy regime. We also attempted to compute the air-

kerma or exposure buildup factors for these Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions. Calculated exposure buildup

factor was found to be minimum for the alloy composition Bi50Sn50 and it increased with weight
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fraction of Zn element. Present investigation of photon interaction and photon energy absorption

characteristics would be of interest for addressing shielding efficiency of lead-free and environment

friendly bismuth containing alloy systems.

Keywords: Gamma radiations, photon interaction parameters, photon-energy absorption parameters,

alloys.

1. INTRODUCTION
Concrete, lead metal, building materials such as cement, sand, bricks, and fly ash etc. are the

traditional materials used for shielding of highly penetrating gamma radiations [1-7]. A concrete

material is widely used as absorber of gamma radiations which is also efficient in slowing down of fast

neutron via elastic and inelastic scattering [8]. Different types of concretes are also observed to show

different shielding characteristics, HVL, and TVL values for the penetration of gamma-rays depending

upon varying density of different types of concretes [9]. Apart from concrete, there are various types of

glass materials being developed and used by researchers for high quality radiation shielding. Majority of

these glasses include borate, silicate, boro-silicate, phosphate, telluride based glass systems with lead as

additive, are being in the use for last few decades [10-13]. Recently, Limkitjaroenporn et al.[11]

reported that lead-sodium-borate glass material has better radiation shielding property than ferrite and

barite concrete at photon energy of 662 keV.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reports have shown that lead metal is

known toxic element and major carcinogen for human beings. Lead based paints are major cause of lead

exposure in the children [14]. Apart from these, lead acid batteries that are used worldwide in lightening

industry and electric vehicle manufacturing units, are also major source of exposure to lead. Lead

derivatives are also commonly used constituents in the cosmetics products [34]. Lead is a neurotoxin

which can harm nervous system of the human beings. It can result into brain damage, hormonal

imbalance, and skin allergies, and infertility [13, 15, 16]. There are also some evidences based upon

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epidemiological studies that brain gliomas (a type of brain tumour) may be associated with lead

exposure in humans. Such kind of lead poisoning is also possible through water soluble lead compounds.

In view of these sources of exposure to lead and lead poisoning in human beings [17], major concern

in the radio-diagnostic industry is to avoid lead and its derivatives as radiation shielding blocks. One is

always interested to device novel shielding materials (compounds or mixtures) by replacing lead with

other non-toxic and high-Z elements.

2. LEAD FREE ALLOYS AS SHILDING MATERIALS

These days, lead free compounds and alloys are in use due to their non-toxicity and environmental

friendly characteristics. Recently, lead free boro-tellurite glasses with bismuth oxide (Bi 2O3) were

synthesised using the melt-quench technique [6]. The structural and shielding properties were

investigated by varying the Bi2O3 concentration. The results demonstrated the advantage of adding

bismuth oxide to boro-tellurite glasses. Addition of bismuth oxide led to increase in the mass attenuation

coefficient values of the glass system and lowering of the HVL and MFP values. Another study on

shielding characteristics of the borosilicate glasses recycled from high pressure sodium lamp glass was

performed by Kurudirek et al. [18]. Radiation shielding behaviour of these glass systems are found to

improve upon addition of Bi2O3. The radiation shielding parameters such as mass attenuation

coefficient, effective atomic number Zeff, electron number Ne are found to depend upon concentration of

Bi2O3 in the glass samples. In other words, concentration of high-Z containing mixture (or, compound)

in the shielding material is reported to enhance its radiation shielding capability.

A study reported by Martinez and Cournoyer [19] also suggested immediate need for elimination of

highly toxic lead metal at nuclear sites with introduction of non-toxic, high-Z metallic elements such as

bismuth (Bi) and tungsten (W) for shielding operations. For low-energy sources used at Los Alamos

National Laboratory (LANL), high energy X-rays and gamma rays interact primarily via photoelectric

effect (PE), and Compton effect (CE). For these types of photon interaction, bismuth is non-toxic metal

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of choice that can substitute lead metal. Also results from occupational exposure limits (OELs) to

control exposure to hazardous materials have indicated no exposure level associated with bismuth metal

and extremely small exposure with tungsten metal [19]. As far as cost factor is involved in

manufacturing of shielding bricks composed of high-Z elements such as bismuth and tungsten, one

should also take into consideration the cost and risk involved in the handling and disposal of highly toxic

lead bricks. On adding the cost incurred on safe disposal of lead waste to actual cost of lead brick, the

use of bismuth bricks is still less expensive and disposal easier to handle.

Although, bismuth seems favourable substitute material for lead for its atomic number (Z) and

density (ρ) are comparable to that of lead metal, however, the bismuth metal is brittle in pure form, and

can’t be processed as such for manufacturing shielding blocks. Lead-free alloy systems containing high-

Z elements, as discussed above, are least explored in the past for their potential use in radiation shielding

design. An alloy is defined to be homogeneous mixture of two or more metallic / non-metallic elements

which may enhance the mechanical, physical, and radiation protection properties of the resulting

material after solidification. For achieving desirable radiation shielding design, these alloys systems

should perform better than traditional concrete and lead. To explore use of alloys systems in diverse

radiation protection applications, these should compose of high-performance and high-strength materials

which are environmental friendly and resistance to corrosive environments. In the present paper, we

shall aim to investigate in detail the total photon interaction and photon energy absorption parameters of

non-toxic and lead-free bismuth based alloys compositions. In the section 3, we shall present detailed

results obtained from simulation of photon interaction and photon-energy absorption parameters of these

Bi based alloys. We shall also analyse the effect of varying the elemental composition on radiation

shielding characteristics of the alloy system as a whole. The results and findings will be finally

summarised in section 4.

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3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The radiation shielding parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient, mass-energy absorption

coefficient, effective atomic number, HVL, TVL, MFP, optimum thickness range, KERMA relative to

air and exposure buildup factors are investigated in detail here for the bismuth based alloys. The

radiation attenuation parameters have been investigated by theoretical approach using the WinXCom

software package over wide photon energy range 1 keV - 20MeV. Five bismuth based alloys are chosen

for this study with elemental composition as shown in the table 1.

3.1 Measurement of mass attenuation and mass energy-absorption coefficient

We compute the mass attenuation coefficient values for these alloy compositions using the WinXCom

database [20]. These values have been computed using a mixture rule as follows [21]:

 m    i   m i (1)
i

where (𝜇 ) is the mass attenuation coefficient for individual element of the alloy mixture and 𝜔 is the

weight fraction of the 𝑖 element in the mixture. The mass energy-absorption coefficient (𝜇 ⁄𝜌) for

these alloy compositions can be evaluated using the mixture rule as follows [22]:

𝝁𝒆𝒏
(𝝁𝒆𝒏 ⁄𝝆)𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒚 = ∑𝒊 𝝎𝒊 , (2)
𝝆 𝒊

where, 𝜔 and (𝜇 ⁄𝜌) are the fractional weight and mass energy-absorption coefficient of the 𝑖

constituent element, respectively. The mass energy-absorption coefficient is a measure of average

fraction of total incident photon energy transferred to the kinetic energy of charged particles during

photon interaction with the absorber. One may note that this component also takes into account energy

carried by bremsstrahlung radiation and other escaping secondary particles. The mass energy-absorption

coefficient plays an important role in the estimation of exposure and absorbed dose in medical radiation

physics [22, 23].

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In Fig. 1, we display the mass attenuation coefficient 𝝁𝒎 (= 𝝁⁄𝝆) values as a function of incident

photon energy in the energy range 1 keV to 20 MeV. The 𝝁𝒎 values obtained theoretically using the

WinXCom software package have been compared for the alloy compositions labelled as S1, S2, S3, S4,

and S5, respectively and illustrated in the table 1. For all the alloy compositions being investigated here,

the 𝝁𝒎 values decrease rapidly with incident photon energy upto 200 keV. This rapid decline in the mass

attenuation coefficient values in the initial photon energy regime may be attributed to dominance of the

photoelectric effect (PE) for which interaction cross-section varies as 1/E3.5. Beyond 100 keV, the

Compton effect (CE) dominates the scenario with its interaction cross-section varying inversely with

photon energy E and linearly with atomic number Z. As a result, all these compositions tend to have

similar 𝝁𝒎 values in the Compton scattering energy regime. With further increase in photon energy, 𝝁𝒎

values decrease moderately only. Beyond 1.5 MeV photon energy, 𝝁𝒎 values decrease very slowly and

almost remain unchanged. Around photon energy ~ 2 MeV, the 𝝁𝒎 values again increase but slightly

which may be related to Z2-dependence of the pair production cross-section. Jumps in the mass

attenuation coefficient values are observed around 100 keV which are due to the K-absorption edge of

Bi83. In Fig. 2, we display the mass energy coefficient (𝝁𝒆𝒏 ⁄𝝆) values computed for the same alloy

compositions. From the pattern observed for 𝝁𝒆𝒏 ⁄𝝆 values, one can infer that variation of mass-energy

absorption coefficient values with photon energy follows the same trend as that of mass attenuation

coefficient values. Also, one can observe abrupt jumps in the 𝝁𝒆𝒏 ⁄ 𝝆 values around 100 keV. These

fluctuations in the 𝝁𝒆𝒏 ⁄𝝆 values similar to those observed in case of mass attenuation coefficient values

are attributed to K-absorption edge of Bi83 element. The photon energies corresponding to different K-,

L-, M- absorption edges of the elements Zn30, Sn50, and Bi83 are shown in the table 2.

Next, we display in Fig. 3 the comparison of 𝜇 and 𝜇 ⁄𝜌 values for a given alloy composition as a

function of photon energy. Also shown in the figure are the mass attenuation coefficient (𝜇 ) values

obtained experimentally for the prepared alloy samples at photon energies of 511, 662 and 1250 keV,

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respectively [24]. The moderate inverse energy dependence of mass attenuation coefficient values is also

due to the fact that selected gamma source energies of 511, 662, and 1250 keV lie in the Compton

scattering region. It can be seen that mass attenuation coefficient values obtained experimentally are in

close agreement with those computed using WinXCom software database. Shaded region in the Fig. 3

indicates Compton scattering energy regime, where increase in photon energy is observed to have

negligible influence on mass attenuation coefficient (𝜇 ) and mass energy-absorption coefficient

(𝜇 /𝜌) values. The variation of mass energy-absorption coefficient with photon energy follows the

same trend as followed by mass attenuation coefficient 𝜇 (= 𝜇 ⁄𝜌) values. The 𝜇 and 𝜇 ⁄𝜌 values

are seen to possess a maximum at lowest of the photon energies which decrease sharply with increase in

the photon energy. The fall in initial 𝜇 (or, 𝜇 ⁄𝜌) values happen due to inverse energy dependence of

.
the cross-section for photoelectric absorption (~ 1⁄𝐸 ). In the photoelectric absorption domain, there is

complete absorption of photon energy into the interacting material, hence 𝜇 ≈ 𝜇 /𝜌. That is, the

initial 𝜇 and 𝜇 ⁄𝜌 values almost coincide in this region as clear from the Fig. 3. With further increase

in gamma-ray energy, contribution from Compton scattering cross-section results into marked difference

in 𝜇 and 𝜇 ⁄𝜌 values. This happens due to the fact that incident photon transfers only partial energy

to the interacting material medium resulting into 𝜇 ⁄𝜌 values lower than the 𝜇 values. These values

attain a minimum around 2 MeV. This trend is found to be uniform across all the alloy compositions

studied here.

In the photon energy range 0.8 MeV to 3 MeV, there is very little variation in the values of photon

attenuation and photon-energy absorption coefficients. Beyond 3 MeV, pair production appears to be

dominant process. In this high energy regime, there is observed a slight increase in values of mass

attenuation coefficient and mass-energy absorption coefficient values with photon energy.

3.2 Computation of effective atomic numbers: ZPIeff and ZPEAeff

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The effective atomic numbers for total photon interaction i.e. ZPIeff and photon energy-absorption i.e.

ZPEAeff have been computed for these Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions as a function of photon energy. The

effective atomic number for total photon interaction ZPIeff is calculated by usual formula:

∑ ( )
𝑍 = . (3)
∑ ( )

Here, 𝑓 is the molar fraction of 𝑖 constituent element present in the alloy mixture. 𝐴 is the mass no. of

𝑖 constituent element in the alloy, and (𝜇 ) being the mass attenuation coefficient of the 𝑖

constituent element.

The effective atomic number for photon energy absorption i.e. ZPEAeff values is obtained by using the

mass energy-absorption coefficient values of these alloy systems as computed previously. The 𝜇 ⁄𝜌

values are firstly used to calculate the effective atomic energy-absorption cross-section as follows:

𝜎 , = ∑𝑓 𝐴 , (4)

Where 𝑓 is the fractional abundance of 𝑖 constituent element and N is the Avogadro’s number.

Similarly, effective electronic energy-absorption cross-section is given by:

𝜎 , = ∑ , (5)

with `𝑍 ’ being the atomic number of 𝑖 constituent element. The effective atomic number for photon-

energy absorption then can be defined as:

,
𝑍 = . (6)
,

Figure 4 displays the variation of effective atomic number due to total photon interaction ZPIeff and

photon energy-absorption ZPEAeff with incident photon energy in the range 1 keV - 20 MeV. One can see

that simulated values of ZPIeff and ZPEAeff for selected alloy compositions S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5,

respectively, exhibit almost similar variations as a function of gamma-ray energy. It can be observed that

the range between maximal and minimal value of effective atomic number increases while moving from

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binary alloy composition Bi50Sn50 (S1) to Bi50Sn10Zn40 (S5). Abrupt fluctuations observed in both

types of effective atomic number below 1 MeV are due to absorption edges of high-Z elements Bi 83, and

Sn50. Overall trends observed for variation of ZPIeff and ZPEAeff with photon energy are nearly alike.

To make the picture more comprehensible, we also compute the ZPIeff and ZPEAeff values averaged over

photon energy range for a given alloy composition. These mean or averaged effective atomic number

values are then compared for different alloy compositions studied here to understand overall shielding

behaviour and influence that weight percentage (or, concentration) of different constituent elements

manifests on the radiation shielding capability of an alloy. The mean ZPIeff and ZPEAeff values as a function

of alloy compositions ranging from S1 to S5 are shown in the Fig. 5 in the form of a bar graph. We

further depict in tabular form the calculated mean values of ZPIeff and ZPEAeff , along with their maximum

and minimum values obtained for these alloy compositions as illustrated in table 3. It is clearly seen

from table 3 and bar graph of Fig. 5 that mean ZPIeff (and, mean ZPEAeff ) values decrease in the order S1>

S2> S3> S4> S5. In other words, binary alloy composition S1 (i.e. Bi50Sn50) is observed to have

highest value of mean ZPIeff and mean ZPEAeff. With increase in the weight percent of Zn element while

going from alloy S1 to alloy S5, the averaged values of effective atomic numbers ZPIeff and ZPEAeff

decrease gradually. On examining the maximal and minimal values of ZPIeff and ZPEAeff from table 3, one

can infer that span of variation in the ZPIeff and ZPEAeff values rises with increase in wt % of zinc (or,

decrease in wt % of tin). With increase in Zn concentration by wt. % in an alloy composition, the

minimal value of ZPIeff and ZPEAeff is seen to further decline. Also one can infer from Fig. 4 that there is

staggered dip in the effective atomic number values around 10 keV photon energy, prominently visible

in the alloy compositions S4 and S5 with 30 and 40 wt. % of Zn element, respectively. This may be

attributed to appearance of K-absorption edge (~ 10keV) of Zn30 element. From computation of these

radiation shielding parameters, we can conclude that binary alloy composition S1 (i.e. Bi50Sn50) bears

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maximum radiation shielding capacity that decreases with increase in wt% of zinc metallic component in

the alloy specimen.

3.3 Variation of HVL, MFP, and TVL with photon energy

The half value layer (HVL) is an important parameter frequently used in the investigation of photon

penetrability inside the shielding materials. HVL is the minimum thickness of shielding sample required

through which transmitted gamma-ray intensity is reduced to half of the original intensity of incident

gamma-rays. Similarly, the thickness of shielding sample at which 10% of the incident gamma-ray

intensity is attenuated is known as the tenth value layer (TVL).

We display in Fig. 6, the half value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), and tenth value layer

(TVL) calculated as functions of incident photon energy for these bismuth based alloys. These three

thickness parameters are important shielding parameters to interpret the shielding behaviour of material

under investigation. If a given shielding material has lowered HVL, MFP and TVL values, this would

amount to better shielding capability of that material. Figure 6(a) gives comparison of HVL values for

present alloy systems as a function of photon energy ranging from 1 keV to 20 MeV. One can see that

contrary to 𝝁𝒎 values, HVL is observed to increase with photon energy here. This trend implies

worsening of the shielding ability against incoming gamma radiations. The HVL values show a peak

around ~ 90 keV beyond which there is a slight decline, and then HVL values rise again with photon

energy. One can also see similar peaks at photon energy ~ 10 keV. These exaggerations (or, peaks) in

HVL values occur due to K-absorption edges of Zn30 and Bi83, respectively present in these alloys.

Overall, for all the alloy compositions S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5, the difference in their HVL values is

meagrely visible. The variations of MFP, and TVL values with photon energy as shown in Figs. 6(b) and

6(c) also exhibit similar trends. The difference among these thickness parameters is only being in their

magnitudes.

3.4 Variation of optimum thickness range with photon energy

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The optimum thickness range is derived from the product of linear attenuation coefficient 𝜇 and

thickness `𝑥′ of the alloy sample, provided the product `𝜇𝑥′ should lie in the range 0.5 ≤ 𝜇 ⋅ 𝑥 ≤ 0.7.

This optimum thickness range allows for an accurate measurement of mass attenuation coefficient

values [25]. From this inequality expression, one should expect the optimum thickness range to increase

with decrease in linear attenuation coefficient. In other words, the optimum thickness range is expected

to increase with photon energy due to decrease in the linear attenuation coefficient µ. Figure 7 shows the

. .
variation of optimum thickness range i.e. ≤𝑥≤ , with photon energy in the energy range

dominated by (a) photoelectric effect (PE), and (b) Compton effect (CE) and pair production (PP). Due

to inverse energy dependence of mass attenuation coefficient values on gamma-ray energy in the

photoelectric absorption domain, the optimum thickness range for these alloy systems are found to

increase with photon energy as is clear from the Fig. 7(a). Beyond photoelectric absorption energy

region, as shown in Fig. 7(b), the optimum thickness range still increases with photon energy but the

range is quite dispersed varying from 0.1 𝑐𝑚 to 1.5 𝑐𝑚. Above 1.5 MeV photon energy, the optimum

thickness range becomes quite broader and saturates with respect to photon energy. That is, the alloy

sample with thickness in this range can be employed over wide range of gamma-ray energies for the

measurement of mass attenuation coefficient values.

We further tried to compute the optimum thickness range from mass energy-absorption coefficient

(𝜇 ⁄𝜌 ) using the condition 0.5 ≤ 𝜇 ⋅ 𝑥 ≤ 0.7 for alloy samples S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5, respectively.

In the top panel of Fig. 8, we display the minimum (and, maximum) values of optimum thickness range

. .
i.e. 𝑥 (and, 𝑥 ) obtained from the inequality condition: ≤𝑥≤ in the photoelectric

absorption energy regime. For all Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions considered here, the optimum thickness

range (i.e. 𝑥 and 𝑥 values) increases with incident photon energy. In the lower photon energy

regime, optimum thickness range is found to vary rapidly with photon energy due to strong energy

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.
dependence of photoelectric absorption cross-section (~ 1⁄𝐸 ). For these alloy systems, the optimum

thickness range varies from 10 𝑐𝑚 to 10 𝑐𝑚. It implies that an alloy sample prepared for measuring

the mass attenuation coefficient at a particular energy can’t be employed at another photon energy in

photoelectric absorption regime. In such a low energy regime, very thin alloy specimens of the order of

few microns would be required for effective gamma-ray attenuation. Extremely small thickness would

make it difficult to handle and employ these alloy samples for measuring the radiation shielding

parameters in low-energy domain. In bottom panel of Fig. 8, we display the optimum thickness range

beyond photoelectric absorption region. In this energy regime, the optimum thickness range is found to

vary from 0.5 𝑐𝑚 to 4 𝑐𝑚. Above 200 keV photon energy, the optimum thickness range keeps

increasing with photon energy and gets saturated around 2 MeV where the contribution due to pair

production process dominates. This suggests that alloy sample of given thickness can be employed for

measuring the mass energy-absorption coefficient values in the photon energy range of few MeV. For

instance, alloy sample of thickness 2.5 𝑐𝑚 can be used for measuring 𝜇 ⁄𝜌 values over photon energy

range from 1 MeV to 20 MeV spanning Compton effect (CE) and pair-production (PP) domains.

As far as lead (Pb) containing alloys are concerned, Kaur et al. recently investigated the shielding

properties of binary Pb-Sn alloys [25]. Pb60Sn40 alloy composition was found to have optimum

thickness range 0.647-0.905 𝑐𝑚 at 662 keV and density equal to 8.055 g/cm3. In the present case, for

lead-free binary alloy composition Bi50Sn50, the optimum thickness range is 0.6163-0.8628 𝑐𝑚 at 662

keV photon energy. The optimum thickness range for Bi50Sn50 is still smaller than that of binary alloy

Pb60Sn40 at 662 keV. At 511 keV photon energy also, similar trend has been observed for optimum

thickness range. The density of Bi50Sn50 alloy sample is measured to be 8.626 g/cm3 which is still

higher than density of Pb60Sn40 alloy sample. Moreover, the mass attenuation coefficient value of

0.094 cm2/g for Bi50Sn50 is comparable with value of 0.096 cm 2/g obtained in case of Pb60Sn40 alloy

with higher wt% of Pb.

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3.5 Computation of KERMA relative to air for Bi- Sn- Zn alloys

We further aim to investigate the KERMA relative to air (Ҡ R) for these alloy compositions. KERMA is

an acronym for kinetic energy released for unit mass of the absorbing material. This is also defined as

the initial kinetic energy of all secondary charged particles liberated per unit mass at a point of interest

by uncharged ionizing radiation [26, 27]. KERMA has been related to mass energy-absorption

coefficient (𝜇 /𝜌) by the following expression [28]:

Ҡ= =𝜓 , (7)

where, Ҡ represents KERMA and 𝜓 is the energy fluence of monoenergetic photons passing normally

through a cross-sectional area `A’ in an absorbing material. In other words, KERMA is the product of

energy fluence 𝜓 and mass energy-absorption coefficient . The value of Ҡ is independent of the

energy fluence of photons and is a good parameter for investigating interaction of matter with gamma-

rays. For present alloy systems, the KERMA relative to air (ҠR) may be defined as the ratio of mass

energy-absorption coefficient for selected sample (𝜇 /𝜌) to that of air (𝜇 /𝜌) i.e.

( / )
Ҡ = (
. (8)
/ )

Figure 9 shows the variation of ҠR computed for selected Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions as a function

of photon energy. As clear from the figure, the ҠR values for these alloy compositions are greater than

unity over wider intermediate energy regime. Within the photon energy range 30 - 60 keV, Ҡ R attains

peak values for all the alloy compositions considered here. Such high ҠR values obtained in the

intermediate energy regime indicates that these alloy systems acts as better absorber of gamma-ray

photons than air. Maximal value of ҠR is observed for binary alloy sample S1 (i.e. Bi50Sn50), while the

minimal value is obtained for ternary alloy S5 (i.e. Bi50Sn10Zn40). Again, the binary alloy composition

Bi50Sn50 tends to be better absorber of gamma-ray photons among the selected alloy compositions.

Here, one can also pin down slight dispersion observed in ҠR values around photon energies 4 keV to 10

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keV and at ~ 90 keV. This dispersion in the ҠR values can be associated with photon energies being near

the absorption edges of the constituent elements Sn50, Zn30, and Bi83 as illustrated in the Fig. 9.

3.6 Exposure buildup factors for gamma-ray attenuation in Bi- Sn- Zn alloys

Lastly, we aim to evaluate the air-kerma buildup factors or exposure buildup factors for gamma-ray

attenuation in these bismuth based alloy compositions. Investigation of exposure buildup factors (ExBF)

would help us estimate how much of the incident energy is deposited inside the absorber medium.

Adequate knowledge of buildup factors helps us in estimating the thickness of the material needed for

radiation shielding design. The transmission of radiation through a shielding material is governed by

Lambert-Beer law:

𝐼 =𝐼 𝑒 , (9)

where, 𝐼 is the incident photon intensity and 𝐼 is the reduced intensity transmitted after crossing

through the absorber material of thickness `t’ and linear attenuation coefficient `μ’. This law is, however,

applicable for monoenergetic photons and narrow beam geometry and the small thickness of absorbing

material. Under practical situation, these assumptions usually stand invalid. Thus, the Lambert-Beer law

takes the modified form to account for multiple scattering of photons inside the absorber medium i.e.

𝐼 = 𝐵𝐼 𝑒 . (10)

The correction factor `B’ is called as the buildup factor which has the value always greater than unity. In

fact, the buildup factor B helps us to control the thickness `t’ of shielding material to achieve desired

shielding design.

In present work, we shall extract the exposure buildup factors (ExBF), in which the energy response

function is that of absorption in the air [29, 30] as a function of the photon energy and taking penetration

depths as an optional parameter. The penetration depth is expressed in terms of mean free paths (MFP)

which is defined as average thickness of an absorber medium which reduces the intensity of incident

beam to 1⁄𝑒 of its original value. The ExBF calculations are performed for absorber material with

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thickness corresponding to 5, 10, 20, and 40 𝑚𝑓𝑝 values. The steps involved in computation of exposure

buildup factor are (a) estimation of equivalent atomic number 𝑍 of given alloy composition, (b)

evaluation of geometric progression (GP) fitting parameters, and (c) estimation of exposure buildup

factors. The geometric progression form is preferred formulation used to approximate buildup factors.

This precise formulation was developed by Harima et al. [31, 32]. The buildup factor as a function of

distance 𝑥 and photon energy 𝐸 is of the form:

1 + (𝑏 − 1 ) ;𝐾 ≠ 1
𝐵(𝐸, 𝑥) = (11)
1 + (𝑏 − 1 )𝑥 ; 𝐾 = 1,

with

( )
𝐾 (𝐸, 𝑥) = 𝑐𝑥 + 𝑑 [
, for 𝑥 ≤ 40 𝑚𝑓𝑝. (12)
( )]

The parameters a, b, c, d, and 𝑋 are GP fitting coefficients which depend upon photon energy and

composition of the absorber material.

For present research work, computation of these GP fitting parameters followed by further evaluation

of exposure buildup factors for the selected Bi- Sn- Zn alloys has been done using the MS Windows

executable program namely `EXABCal’ [33]. EXABCal code was developed and written in the python

programming language. The EXABCal program is capable of calculating the exposure and energy-

absorption buildup factors for standard photon energies in the range 15 keV -15 MeV, and for the

penetration depths upto 40 𝑚𝑓𝑝 [33].

In general, the exposure build up factor (ExBF) are quite small in magnitude in lower and higher

photon energy regions. This behaviour is due to dominance of photoelectric absorption process in lower

energy tail and pair production process in higher energy tail. These processes results in complete

absorption or removal of the incident photons, thereby recording lesser photon buildup within the

absorber material. For intermediate energy gamma-ray photons, there is significant rise in the ExBF

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values. This can be attributed to dominant Compton scattering process instead of complete removal of

gamma-ray photons. The Compton scattering process leads to scattering of photons by atomic electrons

of the absorber medium. The photons scattering with lower kinetic energy result into increase in photon

buildup.

Figure 10 compares the exposure buildup factor calculated for alloy compositions S1, S2, S3, S4, and

S5 as a function of the photon energies in the Compton scattering regime taking penetration depth (in

𝑚𝑓𝑝) as an optional parameter. Left column shows the ExBF calculations done at 5 𝑚𝑓𝑝 and 10 𝑚𝑓𝑝,

while the right column displays the exposure buildup factors at 20 𝑚𝑓𝑝 and 40 𝑚𝑓𝑝, respectively. In the

intermediate energy domain spanning the Compton effect (CE), one can see that buildup of scattering

photons is higher in case of alloy S5 i.e. Bi50Sn10Zn40 and smallest for binary alloy S1 i.e. Bi50Sn50.

This implies that probability of Compton scattering is higher in case of S5 alloy that decreases with

increase in wt% of Zn element in the other alloys. This trend is visible for all the penetration depths as

depicted in the Fig. 10. Also, ExBF values are observed to increase with penetration depths as expected.

Lowest ExBF values are observed at 1 𝑚𝑓𝑝 (as shown in left panel of Fig. 10), while the highest ExBF

values are observed at 40 𝑚𝑓𝑝 (as shown in right panel of Fig. 10). The maximum value of ExBF is

obtained in case of ternary S5 alloy, while it is minimum for the binary S1 alloy composition. This

happens due to enhanced occurrence of multiple scattering processes within S5 alloy composition that

result in increase in ExBF value. Overall, one observes significant influence of elemental composition

on the exposure buildup factor values for Bi-based alloys in the medium energy regime dominated by

the Compton effect (CE).

4. CONCLUSIONS

In a nutshell, we presented in this paper the comparative analysis of the total photon interaction and

photon-energy absorption parameters for different Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions. The variation of

elemental composition in terms of the wt. % of tin (Sn50) and zinc (Zn30) elements showed noticeable

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influence on the radiation attenuation and radiation absorption properties of bismuth-based alloy

systems. In the lower energy tail, all the alloy compositions are found to have similar trends of 𝜇 and

𝜇 /𝜌 values varying as functions of photon energy. The mass attenuation coefficient (𝜇 ) and mass

energy-absorption coefficient (𝜇 /𝜌) values simulated for the five Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions

showed marked difference especially in the Compton scattering energy regime. Further, mass

attenuation coefficient values computed at photon energies of 511, 662, and 1250 keV are found to be in

nice agreement with experimentally determined mass attenuation coefficient values. The variation of

𝑍 and 𝑍 values with photon energy is found to be strongly dependent upon the elemental

composition of these alloys. Average values of the effective atomic numbers (i.e. both 𝑍 as well as

𝑍 ) are found to be maximal for the alloy S1 and minimal for the alloy S5. In other words, the

elemental composition of the alloys has significantly impact the mean 𝑍 and 𝑍 values.

Analysis of the KERMA relative to air (ҠR) values also depicts similar trends. In the intermediate

photon energy zone dominated by the Compton scattering process, the KERMA relative to air value

obtained for binary alloy S1 was superior to other alloy compositions considered. This simply indicates

that binary alloy S1 (i.e. Bi50Sn50) containing 50% tin by weight has better photon absorption

properties compared to other alloy compositions. A sharp peak in ҠR value located at 40 keV is the

indication of higher kinetic energy released per unit mass of the alloy mixture that makes S1 alloy

having superior photon removal capabilities and most efficient absorber of the gamma radiations

compared to other compositions with lower concentration of tin. This shielding behaviour is further

supported by minimal exposure buildup factors values obtained for S1 binary alloy composition over

wide Compton scattering energy regime.

In view of lead's toxicity and human poisoning, the knowledge of radiation interactions with these

bismuth based alloys is of immense importance for researchers working in the field of radiological

physics for design of the alloy-based radiation shielding blocks. Moreover, these bismuth based alloy

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specimens being lead-free are environment friendly, easy to fabricate and suitable for their safe disposal

and recycling.

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 Alloy Chemical Weight %
Sample Composition
Bi Sn Zn
S1 Bi50Sn50 0.5 0.5 0.0

S2 Bi50Sn40Zn10 0.5 0.4 0.1

S3 Bi50Sn30Zn20 0.5 0.3 0.2

S4 Bi50Sn20Zn30 0.5 0.2 0.3

S5 Bi50Sn10Zn40 0.5 0.1 0.4

Table 1. Selected bismuth-based alloys with elemental composition: Bi50Sn(50 − x)Znx, where x = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 wt. % .

Element Name K L1 L2 L3 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5

Zn30 9.66 1.19 1.04 1.02 - - - - -

Sn50 29.20 4.47 4.16 3.93 - - - - -

Bi83 90.53 16.39 15.71 13.42 4.00 3.70 3.18 2.69 2.58

Table 2. Photon energies (in keV) for absorption edges of constituent elements Bi83, Sn50, and Zn30, respectively.

Alloy Elemental Mean Mean Maximum Minimum Maximum Minimum

Sample Composition ZPIeff ZPEAeff ZPIeff ZPIeff ZPEAeff ZPEAeff
S1 Bi50Sn50 64.8008 65.2397 73.4983 59.5311 72.4831 59.5791
S2 Bi50Sn40Zn10 61.8104 62.3817 71.9391 53.1287 70.9369 53.3522
S3 Bi50Sn30Zn20 59.0787 59.7201 72.3959 47.1621 71.3551 47.1691

S4 Bi50Sn20Zn30 56.62604 57.40049 73.2495 43.2585 71.9594 43.2915

S5 Bi50Sn10Zn40 54.64222 55.41983 73.3262 40.2996 71.7573 40.3527

Table 3. Comparison of mean effective atomic numbers ZPIeff and ZPEAeff, and their maximal and minimal values for different
Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions.

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Fig. 1 Variation of mass attenuation coefficient values with incident photon energy for selected
Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions.

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Fig. 2 Variation of mass energy-absorption coefficient values with incident photon energy for
selected Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions.

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Fig. 3 Variation of photon-attenuation coefficient (𝜇 ) and photon-enery absorption coefficient (𝜇 ⁄𝜌) as a function of incident photon
energy for selected Bi-Sn-Zn alloy compositions. Experimental mass attenuation coefficient (𝜇 ) values are shown by
asterisk symbols at photon energies of 511, 662 and 1250 keV, respectively.

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Fig. 4 Variation of effective atomic numbers i.e. Z and Z values with incident photon energy for
selected Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions.

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 Mean effective atomic number values for Bi- Sn- Zn alloys
68
PI PEA
66

64
Effective atomic number

62

60

58

56

54

52

50

48
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions

Fig. 5 Mean values of effective atomic numbers ZPIeff and ZPEAeff plotted and compared for the bismuth-based
alloy compositions S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5, respectively.

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Fig. 6 Variation of (a) half value layer, (b) mean free path, and (c) tenth value layer with photon energy for
selected Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions.

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Fig. 7 Variation of optimum thickness range obtained using the mass attenuation coefficient μ⁄ρ as a function of photon
energy in (a) photoelectric absorption energy regime, and (b) Compton scattering and pair production energy regime for
the selected Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions.

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Fig. 8 Variation of optimum thickness range obtained using the mass energy-absorption coefficient μ ⁄ρ as a function
of photon energy in (a) photoelectric absorption energy regime, and (b) Compton scattering and pair production energy
regime for the selected Bi- Sn- Zn alloy compositions.

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 Fig. 9 Comparison of KERMA relative to air ҠR values plotted as function of photon energy for selected Bi- Sn- Zn
alloy compositions. Also shown in the figure are L- absorption edge of Sn50, and K- absorption edges of Zn30 and Bi83,
where slight dispersion in the ҠR values has been observed.

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Fig. 10 The variation of the exposure buildup factor (ExBF) value with photon energy compared for different Bi- Sn- Zn
alloy compositions. Calculation of ExBF values is done at the penetration depths of 5, 10, 20 and 40 mfp, respectively.

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