Determination of mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic and electron numbers for some natural minerals

The total mass attenuation coefficients (mu(m)) for SiO2 {Quartz (1 1 0 1), Quartz (1 1 0 0) and Quartz (0 0 0 1)}, KAlSi3O8 {Orthoclase (0 1 0), Orthoclase (1 0 0)}. CaSO4 center dot 2H(2)O (gypsum), FeS2 (pyrite) and Mg2Si2O6 (pyroxene) natural minerals were measured at 22.1, 25.0, 59.5 and 88.0 keV photon energies. The gamma- and X-rays were counted by a Si(Li) detector with a resolution of 160 eV at 5.9 keV. Atomic and electronic cross sections (sigma(t) and sigma(e)), the effective atomic and electron numbers or electron densities (Z(eff) and N-eff) were determined using the obtained mu(m) values for investigated samples. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.