The real and imaginary parts,f’(E) and”(E) of the dispersion corrections to the forward Rayleigh scattering amplitude (also called anomalous scattering factors) for the elements La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho and Er, have been determined by a numerical evaluation of the dispersion integral that relates them through the optical theorem to the photoeffect cross-sections. The photoeffect cross-sections are derived from the total attenuation cross-section data set experimentally determined using high resolution high purity germanium detector in a narrow beam good geometry set-up for these elements in the photon energy range 5 to 1332 keV and reported earlier by the authors. Below 5 keV, Scofield’s photoeffect cross-sections compiled in XCOM program have been interpolated and used. Simple formulae forf” in terms of atomic number and energy have also been obtained. The data cover the energy region from 6 to 85 keV and atomic numberZ from 57–68. The results obtained are found to agree fairly well with the other available data.

Photon mass attenuation coefficients of some thermoluminescent dosimetric (TLD) compounds, such as LiF, CaCO₃, CaSO₄, CaSO₄.2H₂O, SrSO₄, CdSO₄, BaSO₄, C₄H₆BaO₄ and 3CdSO₄.8H₂O were determined at 279.2, 320.07, 514.0, 661.6, 1115.5, 1173.2 and 1332.5 keV in a well-collimated narrow beam good geometry set-up using a high resolution, hyper pure germanium detector. The attenuation coefficient data were then used to compute the effective atomic number and the electron density of TLD compounds. The interpolation of total attenuation cross-sections of photons of energyE in elements of atomic numberZ was performed using the logarithmic regression analysis of the data measured by the authors and reported earlier. The best-fit coefficients so obtained in the photon energy range of 279.2 to 320.07 keV, 514.0 to 661.6 keV and 1115.5 to 1332.5 keV by a piece-wise interpolation method were then used to find the effective atomic number and electron density of the compounds. These values are found to be in agreement with other available published values.

In this paper, we provide polynomial coefficients and a semi-empirical relation using which one can derive photon mass energy absorption coefficient of any H-, C-, N-, O-based sample of biological interest containing any other elements in the atomic number range 2–40 and energy range 200–1500 keV. More interestingly, it has been observed in the present work that in this energy range, both the mass attenuation coefficients and the mass energy absorption coefficients for such samples vary only with respect to energy. Hence it was possible to represent the photon interaction properties of such samples by a mean value of these coefficients. By an independent study of the variation of the mean mass attenuation coefficient as well as mass energy absorption coefficient with energy, two simple semi-empirical relations for the photon mass energy absorption coefficients and one relation for the mass attenuation coefficient have been obtained in the energy range 200–1500 keV. It is felt that these semi-empirical relations can be very handy and convenient in biomedical and other applications. One possible significant conclusion based on the results of the present work is that in the energy region 200–1500 keV, the photon interaction characteristics of any H-, C-, N-, O-based sample of biological interest which may or may not contain any other elements in the atomic number range 2–40 can be represented by a sample-independent (single) but energy-dependent mass attenuation coefficient and mass energy absorption coefficient.

In this work, we have made an effort to determine whether the effective atomic numbers of H-, C-, N- and O-based composite materials would indeed remain a constant over the energy grid of 280–1200 keV wherein incoherent scattering dominates their interaction with photons. For this purpose, the differential incoherent scattering cross-sections of Be, C, Mg, Al, Ca and Ti were measured for three scattering angles 60°, 80° and 100° at 279.1, 661.6 and 1115.5 keV using which an expression for the effective atomic number was derived. The differential incoherent scattering cross-sections of the composite materials of interest measured at these three angles in the same set-up and substituted in this expression would yield their effective atomic number at the three energies. Results obtained in this manner for bakelite, nylon, epoxy, teflon, perspex and some sugars, fatty acids as well as amino acids agreed to within 2% of some of the other available values. It was also observed that for each of these samples, $Z_{\text{eff}}$ was almost a constant at the three energies which unambiguously justified the conclusions drawn by other authors earlier [Manjunathaguru and Umesh, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 39, 3969 (2006); Manohara et al, Nucl. Instrum. Methods B266, 3906 (2008); Manohara et al Phys. Med. Biol. 53, M377 (2008)] based on total interaction cross-sections in the energy grid of interest.

In this paper, we report a new method to determine the effective atomic number, $Z_{\text{eff}}$, of composite materials for Compton effect in the γ -ray region 280–1115 keV based on the theoretically obtained Klein–Nishina scattering cross-sections in the angular range $50^{\circ}–100^{\circ}$ as well as a method to experimentally measure differential incoherent (Compton) scattering cross-sections in this angular range. The method was employed to evaluate $Z_{\text{eff}}$ for different inorganic compounds containing elements in the range $Z = 1–56$, at three scattering angles 60°, 80° and 100° at three incident gamma energies 279.1 keV, 661.6 keV and 1115.5 keV and we have verified this method to be an appropriate method. Interestingly, the $Z_{\text{eff}}$ values so obtained for the inorganic compounds were found to be equal to the total number of electrons present in the sample as given by the atomic number of the elements constituting the sample in accordance with the chemical formula of the sample. This was the case at all the three energies.