5.

Interaction of Ionizing Radiation with Matter

charged particles
Type of radiation
photonen
Uncharged „particles“
neutronen

electrons (b-) neg.

Charged particles
He2+ (a), H+(p) D+ (d)
Recoil nuclides
Fission fragments

Wir können die Wechselwirkung dieser Strahlen als Elementarprozesse

betrachten (Einzelprozesse)

oder als makroskopische Effekte (Abschwächung, Absorption, Streuung etc.)

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-1
 Interaction of Ionizing Radiation with Matter
Praktische Auswirkungen der Strahlung

Strahlung: Bremsung, Energieabnahme

Materie: Physikalische, chemische, biologische Wirkung

Parameter, welche bei der Wechselwirkung eine Rolle spielen

Masse, Ladung
Teilchen Geschwindigkeit, kinetische Energie
Spin

Atommasse M, I
Kernladungszahl Z
Materie Anzahl e- pro Volumen
Dichte
Ionisationspotentiale
26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-2
 Interaction of Ionizing Radiation with Matter
Synopsis of interactions with the electronshell

Photoeffekt
Ungeladene Teilchen, Photonen Comptoneffekt
(Paar Erzeugung)

Mit den Atomkernen

geladene Teilchen Kernreaktionen

Bremsstrahlung
Photonen: Paarbildung
Kernreaktionen
Neutronen: Kernreaktionen

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-3
 Ionizing Radiation
Wir unterscheiden zwischen direkt ionisierend: a, b-, b+, …

Energie reicht aus, durch Stoss Ionen zu erzeugen

und indirekt ionisierend: n + g setzen erst im Material Ionen frei

In the context of radiation absorption, two definitions are important

linear stopping power

and linear energy transfer

If no Bremsstrahlung (see later) SI and LI are equal, otherwise there will be a

substantial difference

also important
26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-4
 Interaction of Ionizing Radiation with Matter
Übersicht der Wechselwirkung (von Materie) mit Elektronen

Geladene Teilchen: - Bremsung durch unelastische Streuung

- Ionisation und Anregung

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-5
 Ionizing Radiation

by collision with electrons, the incident particle ionizes matter

the mean energy to remove an electron is called the W-factor

W-factor for air is 33.85eV/IP

When the charged particle travels through matter, it makes

an energy dependent number of ionization / length

this is the specific ionization SI

we can determine the mean energy loss per path length

Linear Energy Transfer LET = SI∙W

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-6
 Ionizing Radiation

The lower the energy, the higher the SI

since probability of interaction with shell electron increases

Bragg Peak

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-7
 Ionizing Radiation
Let‘s make an example

241 Am was in smoke detectors Ea=5.48 MeV

specific ionization (SI) = 3.4104 IP/cm

LET = 3.4·104·33.8 = 1.2 MeV/cm

Range = = = 4.8 cm

This is the maximum range since the SI increases dramatically at the end of the path

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-8
 Ionizing Radiation

Interaction with other materials SI will change since e--density changes

one measure is the relative stopping power (see before)

RSP = Rair/Rabs (R = Range)

RSP values for some materials and particles

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-9
 Ionizing Radiation

Ranges in air for different particles and energies

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-10
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons

-The most important interaction of electrons with matter is

inelastic scattering with electrons from the shells
thereby ions are generated

Since not every collision leads to ionisation, the average energy loss for
ionisation is larger than the minimal Ie of the atoms

Bethe and Bloch proposed a „simple“ formula for energy loss along a
track, considering the nature of the absorber

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-11
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons

mit me = Ruhemasse Elektron

e0 = Dielektrizitätskonst. Vakuum
aN = Anzahldichte des Materials
v = Geschw. Elektrons
T = mittlere Ionisierungsdichte des Materials

please note: since e- are light particles, relativistic effects have to be considered

E = 100 keV v = 0.55 c m = 1.2 ∙ mo

E = 1000 keV v = 0.94 c m = 3 ∙ mo

for lower energies, the relativistic effects can be neglected

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-12
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons
both formulas predict a minimum value dE at a certain energy....
dx
...depending only on the mass of the particle

thus, the slower the particle the more ionization per length will appear
26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-13
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons
absorption of electrons (b- radiation)

Note: typical b- decay shows a continuous energy distribution,

hence it has many low energy electrons

inspecting the Bethe-Bloch formula, it is obviously an exponential formula

empirically,it translates into:

Y(x) = Y(0) ∙ e-µ∙x

with µ = konst

or N(x) = N0 ∙ e-µ∙x

with µ = linear absorption coefficient (see x-ray crystallography)

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-14
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons
absorption of electrons (b- radiation)

thus, the absorption of electrons decreases linearly

often, instead of path x one takes mass-equivalent range d = d∙ x

then

with µ/d = mass absorption coefficient

note that µ is a function of the electron energy and the material

it allows to calculate the maximum range of electrons in a material

it allows to calculate the thickness of materials for shielding

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-15
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons
Example: equivalent range of e- in Al

one can easily calculate the path for reducing the e--flux to 50%

x1/2 = ln2 and d1/2 = (ln2)/(µ/8)

µ

x1/2 can be determined experimentally and µ be calculated for a particular material

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-16
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons
There exists also a semiempirical relationship between µ, d and Emax

and there are semiempirical relationships for connecting range with electron energy

(0.15 < Eβ < 0.8 MeV)

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-17
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons

Calculate the maximum range of different β-emitters

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-18
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons
How much energy can be lost in a single collision?

of particular interest: collision with a shell electron

maximum energy transfer

incoming particle : mass Mi, speed Vi1

electron : mass me speed 0
after collision : Mi, v2, me, ve

Energy: ½ Mi·v12 = ½ Mi·v22 + ½ me· ve2

momentum: Mi ·v1 = Mi·v2 + me·ve (non-relativistic)

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-19
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons
maximum energy transfer

speed of reflected particle

MET Qmax = nicht relativistisch

If Mi = me (electron on electron)
then Qmax = E

explains why light particles have a zigzag pass in matter

take an a-particle colliding with an e-

me = 9.109∙10-31 kg ma = 6.646∙10-27 kg
5.468 ∙10-4 u 4.0026 u
Qmax/E = = 0.00054 = 0.05 % !!

26.04.17
That‘s why heavy particles travel straight CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-20
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons
before going further: what is the speed of a particle of a given energy E and rest mass m0

easy E = ½ mo∙v2 true for energies with speed away from c

relativistic equation:

aufgelöst: for an electron with E = 100keV

1 eV = 1.602∙10-19 J mo = 9.109 ∙10-31 kg c = 3 ∙108 m/sec

E = 100 keV v = 1.21 ∙108 m/sec (rel)

1.32 ∙108 m/sec (nicht rel)
26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-21
 Ionizing Radiation: Electrons

% of speed of light c:

this can be calculated for all particles back to maximum energy transfer

Qmax =

with

reduces to Qmax = 2g2∙me ∙ vi since <<<1, usually

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-22
 Ionizing Radiation: Protons
Examples for protons H

Proton Kinetic Maximum percentage

Energy E Qmax energy transfer
(MeV) (MeV) 100Qmax/E

0.1 0.00022 0.22

1 0.0022 0.22
10 0.0219 0.22
100 0.229 0.23
103 3.33 0.33
104 136 1.4
105 1.06 x 104 10.6
106 5.38 x 105 53.8
107 9.21 x 106 92.1

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-23
 Ionizing Radiation

Specific ionizations for e.g. elecrons in air can be calculated if their velocity is known

SI =

(keep in mind that v changes upon absorption)

example: 32P (Emax (b) = 1.709 MeV)

calculate v = 2.6∙108 m/s b = 0.87

SI = 6000 IP/m
LET = 0.2 MeV/cm

keep in mind that not only ionization takes place but also
scattering of electrons at the nucleus

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-24
 Ionizing Radiation: Bremsstrahlung
The most important interaction is inelastic scattering

Which results in the emission of Bremsstrahlung

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-25
 Bremsstrahlung

The stopping power of atoms or materials does notonly depend on ionization but also on

direct electron-target nucleus interactions

This energy loss generates photons, so called „Bremsstrahlung“

thus: total stopping power

From Bethe-Formula, the ratio between collision and radiation is

thus: the higher the energy, the more Bremsstrahlung

and the higher the atomic number, the more Bremsstrahlung

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-26
 Bremsstrahlung

since the stopping efficiency by Bremsstrahlung

increases by z2, but the stopping by ionization only by z,

the formation of Bremsstrahlung increases with E

The following formula gives this ratio

example: Pb shielded source of 90Y(Emax = 2.28MeV) produces 10% Bremsstrahlung

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-27
 Bremsstrahlung

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-28
 Bremsstrahlung

The Bremsstrahlung is used to produce Synchrotronradiation

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-29
 Bremsstrahlung

this means: don‘t shield b-emitters with lead !!

let‘s make an example:

How much energy does a 2.2 MeV electron loose by passing

through 5mm Lucite (Acrylglas)? r = 1.19

1. We calculate the maximum range of 2.2 MeV using the formula for low Z materials

R = 0.412∙E(1.27-0.095·lnE)
= 1.06 g/cm2

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-30
 Bremsstrahlung

The same result can be received from the range vs energy graph

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-31
 Bremsstrahlung

2. now we relate the stopping power and the energy by the formula for low Z materials

InEafter = 6.63-3.24(3.29-lnEbefore)½ = 0.105

Eafter = 1.11 MeV and 1.09 MeV is absorbed

with the formula from p…. 0.0039 % are converted to Bremsstrahlung (4.23 kev)

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-32
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
Interaction of g-radiation and x-rays with matter

- Photons do not steadily lose energy as they penetrate matter

- The distance the photons can travel before they interact with
an atom is governed statistically by a probability, which
depends on the specific medium and on the photon energy

Three principle modes of interaction

Photo Effect Compton Effect Pair Formation

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-33
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
The Photo Effect

- interaction between g - quanta and

electrons of the inner shells
- emission of a photoelectron
(ionization)
- dominates with low photon energies
In coming g-quant - „absorption“ of the g -quant

Photo electron
Electron of the shell

L- shell
Higher
energy radiation
levell

- electron gap filled by an outer-sphere Photon

electron (X-ray fluorescence, secondary K- shell
radiation)
Lower
energy g-quant
levell
26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-34
CHE-611-FS10-Teil2-34
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
The Photo Effect

The photoelectron contains the complete energy of the g – quant minus

an energy j that the electron expends in escaping the atom

T = hn -j
Every g-rays emitting nucleus emits g-quanta with a distinct energies
(fingerprint)

g – spectroscopy

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-35
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gammaspektrum_Uranerz.jpg
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
The Photo Effect

The photo effect depends strongly on the atomic number Z and the
energy hn of the photons

Z 4
probability =
(hn )3

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-36
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
The Compton effect

incoming
g-quant

scattered
g-quant

Compton
electron

- interaction between g -quanta and e- of the outer electron shells (Compton electrons)
- emission of a Compton electron (ionization)
- g -quant loses energy (shift to longer wavelengths, Compton shift)
- the Compton shift only depends on the scattered angle, not on the wave length of
the incident-photon
- resulting quant can undergo more Compton reaction or finally photo reactions
26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-37
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
The Compton effect

Compton continuum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gammaspektrum_Uranerz.jpg

- The emitted Compton electrons have no defined energy (Compton continuum)

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-38
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
The „mystical“ Pair Formation

Never forget: E = m × c2
Þ A photon with an energy of at least 1.022 MeV can be converted into an
e+ / e- pair in the field of an atomic nucleus

hn ³ 2mec2

- Excess energy is kinetic energy of the

products

In coming g-quant - The distribution of the excess energy is

continuous

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-39
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
The „mystical“ Pair Formation

- Pair production becomes more likely with increasing photon energy

- The probability also increases with the atomic number

probability » Z 2

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-40
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
The Annihilation of Positrons

The produced positron immediately reacts with an electron

e+ + e- = hn
Since the total momentum before the decay is zero, two photons must
be produced in order to conserve momentum

The produced photons going off in opposite

directions

Due to 2mec2 = hn the photon energy is 511 keV (1.022 MeV/2)

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-41
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Pair Formation

Disadvantage:
- The presents of 511 keV annihilation photons around any
positron source is always a potential radiation hazard

Advantages:
- Pair Formation helps to convert high energy photons (> 1.022 MeV)
into photons with less energy (511 keV)

Þ easier to shield

Question: How would you shield a g-emitter ?

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-42
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
Occurrence of the three mechanisms of interaction
Atomic number of absorber

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-43
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
Interaction of Neutrons with Matter
- Neutrons have no charge and don‘t interact with the shell electron
(no direct ionization)

- Interactions between neutrons and matter are interactions with nuclei

(only secondary ionization processes)

Classification of Neutrons

Thermal Neutrons: Energy distribution according to the Maxwell – Boltzmann equation

Energy ≈ 0.025 eV
(most probable energy in the distribution at 20°C)

Slow Neutrons: Also called “intermediate” of “resonance” neutrons.

Energy ≤ 0.1 MeV

Fast Neutrons: Energy ≤ 20 MeV

Relativistic Neurtons: Energy > 20 MeV

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-44
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
Interaction of Neutrons with Matter

- main mechanisms: elastic and inelastic impacts, neutron capturing

Elastic and inelastic impacts

slow
slow
neutron,
neutron,
W2
W2
Back-
scattered nucleus, Fast neutron,
Fast neutron, W3 W1
W1 W3
W1 = W2 + W3
W1 > W2 + W3

Energy range: 10 keV - 1 MeV Energy range: 1 - 10 MeV

- emission of excess energy as g -quants

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-45
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
Interaction of Neutrons with Matter

Elastic Scattering 4mMEn

Qmax =
(M + m)2
M = Mass of a neutron
m = Mass of the recoil nucleus
En = Kinetic energy of the neutron
slow
neutron,
W2 Maximum Fraction of Energy Lost, Qmax / En
Back-
scattered nucleus,
Fast neutron, W3
W1

W1 = W2 + W3

Energy range: 10 keV - 1 MeV

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-46
 Ionizing Radiation: High Energy Photons
Interaction of Neutrons with Matter

Slowing-down neutrons is called neutron moderation

If a neutron reaches thermal energies, it will move about

randomly by elastic scattering until absorbed by a nucleus

Nuclear reaction: (n,p), (n, 2n), (n, a), (n, g)

Neutron Activation Analysis

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-47
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation

Interaction of radiation with a biological system leads to an energy transfer

The biological impact depends on:

type of radiation

type of irradiated biological material

How to quantify the amount of transferred energy ?

How to quantify the biological impact?

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-48
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation

Dose and Dose Rate

produced charges DQ
Ion Dose (Exposure) I= I=
mass of irradiated air Dm

Radiation
source
C(As) Ion pairs
SI Unit: I = = 6,25 × 1018
kg kg air
Ionisation
chamber Old unit: R (Roentgen)

- Measurement of the ionisation in an 2,58 × 10 -4 C C

ionisation chamber 1R = 1 = 3,88 × 103 R
- gasfilled container with a window of kg air kg air
thin material
Strahlenmenge, die nötig ist, um positive und negative Ionen von einer
- electric current is produced by ions
elektrostatischen Einheit im Volumen von einem Kubikzentimeter (1 cm³)
which are produced by the influence Luft bei Normalbedingungen freizusetzen
of radiation Eine Dosis von 1 Röntgen pro Kubikzentimeter Luft ≈ 2 Milliarden
Ionenpaare
26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-49
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
From Ion Dose to Energy Dose

absorbed radiation energy ΔW

D= D=
mass Δm

the formation of 1 ion pair requires 34 eV

SI Unit: 1 Gy (Gray) 1 Gy = 1 J/kg Old unit: rd (rad) 1rd = 10-2 Gy

with this information we have a direct information about the transfered energy

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-50
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
From Energy Dose to Equivalent Dose

Damage of organic material (tissue) can only be expected if the energy is

absorbed by the tissue (Interactions radiation -matter)

The bigger the absorption is, the bigger is the impact

Highly ionizing radiation has a higher impact than weakly ionizing (a > n > b, g, X)

Energy dose exclusively reflects the pure energy value (not the impact)

Equivalent dose H=D·W

W = weighting factor of the radiation

SI Unit: 1 Sv (Sievert) 1 Sv = 1 J/kg

old unit:1 rem 1 Sv = 100 rem (roentgen equivalent men)

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-51
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
Equivalent Dose

Representing the stochastic health effects of ionizing radiation on the human body.
Equivalent Dose enables the comparison of different types of radiation.
Equivalent dose H=D·W Normal cell
Damaged cell

W = weighting factor of the radiation

Radiation types W
X-rays, g- and ß- Biological sample after Biological sample after
1
radiation irradiation with Beta- irradiation with Alpha-
Particles Particles
Neutron radiation about 10
relative destruction: 1 relative destruction: 1
a - radiation 20 Energy dose: 1 Gy Energy dose: 0.05 Gy

Dose rate: dH (Sv / h)

dT
26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-52
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
Physical Process Radiobiological
instantaneous
energy transfer Functional Chain

minutes molecular & biochemical changes

hours cellular changes

somatic cell gamete cell

next
days acute direkt generation
damage

weeks/ neoplasms
month (cancer, leukemia)

non-malignant
years later damage
genetic damage

26.04.17 deterministic stochastic CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-53

 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
Direct vs. Indirect Radiation Effect

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-54
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
DNA Damages

Single-/ Double-strand breaks Chemical bond between Chemical modification

Neighboring nucleotides of a nucleotide (mutation) /
losing of one nucleobase

Chemical linkage of two strands

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-55
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
DNA Damages

spontaneous radiation-induced

Event per second per hour per year per mGy

Single-strand break 1.4 ca. 5 x 103 ca. 4.4 x 107 1.0

Double-strand break 0.04

Depurination ca. 1.5 x 103 ca. 1.4 x 107 0.01

Base damage 0.8 ca. 1.25 x 103 ca. 1.1 x 107 0.95

Total 2.2 ca. 8 x 103 ca.7 x 107 ca. 2.0

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-56
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
Radiation Damages

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-57
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
Stochastic vs. Deterministic Effects

Bei den somatischen Strahlenwirkungen unterscheidet man zwischen stochastischen und

deterministischen Strahlenwirkungen.

26.04.17 http://www.kernfragen.de/kernfragen/lexikon/s/strahlenschaeden_beim_menschen.php CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-58

 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
Deterministic Radiation Damage

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-59
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
Deterministic Radiation Damage

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-60
 6. Biological action of ionizing radiation
Deterministic Radiation Damage

Strahlenverbrennung der Haut

Strahlendermatitis und Epilation

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-61
 Biological action: Dose and dose rate
Dose Limits

Equivalent Dose Limits StSG (28.12.2004) / StSV (01.01.2008)

Equivalent Dose Limits (annual)
Body 1 mSv (public)
20 mSv (people working with activity)
max. 50 mSv (exceptional with
permission)
Equivalent Dose Limits for tissues
& organs (annual)
Lens of eye 150 mSv
Skin, hands, and feet 500 mSv

26.04.17 CHE-711-Teil2-FS17-62