Neutron production in the interaction of electrons with a dispersing lamella

When a Linac for radiotherapy operates with acceleration voltages greater than 8 MV, neutrons are produced as secondary radiation. They deposit an undesirable and not negligible dose in the patient. Depending on the type of tumor, its location in the body and the characteristics of the patient, cancer treatment with a Linac is done with photon or electron beams, which produce neutrons through reactions (γ, n) and e, e n) respectively. Because the effective section of the reaction (n, γ) is 137 times greater than the reaction (e, e n), most studies have focused on photo neutrons. When a Linac operates with electron beams, the beam that leaves the magnetic baffle is incised in the dispersion foil in order to cause quasi-elastic interactions and expand the spatial distribution of the electrons; in their interaction with the lamella the electrons produce photons and these in turn produce neutrons. Due to the radiobiological efficiency of neutrons and the ways in which they interact with matter, is important to determine the neutrons production in Linacs operating in electron mode. The objective of this work is to determine the characteristics of photons and neutrons that occur when a beam of mono-energetic electrons of 2 mm in diameter (pencil beam) is made to impinge on a tungsten lamella of 1 cm in diameter and 0.5 mm thick located in the center of a 10 cm thick tungsten shell, used to represent the accelerator head. The study was carried out using the Monte Carlo method with the MCNP6 code for electron beams of 12 and 18 MeV. The spectra of photons and neutrons were estimated in 6 point detectors, four were placed in different points equidistant from the center of the lamella and the other two were located at 50 cm and 1 m from the electron beam, simulating the totally closed head. In this work it was found that when a Linac operates with an electron beam of 12 or 18 MeV there is neutron production mainly in the head and in the direction of the beam. (Author)