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.