Determination of Effective Atomic Number of Multifunctional Materials by Beta Backscatter (CAT#: STEM-ST-0172-YJL)

Introduction

The effective atomic number (Zeff) of multifunctional materials has been studied extensively both theoretically as well as experimentally by several investigators. It is well known that the atomic number for composite material cannot be expressed in a single number; the effective atomic number is the ratio of the total atomic crosssection to the total electronic cross-section involved during radiation interaction. In other words, it is the fraction of total number of electrons of composite material participates in radiation-atom interaction number.