Modeling the transmission of beta rays through thin foils in planar geometry

• A mathematical model of electron transport in planar geometry is developed.
• The model is based on the plane source concept.
• The efficiency of plane sources is computed using Monte Carlo method.
• A simple function for the plane source efficiency is obtained by curve fitting.
• Applications of the mathematical model are also presented.

This paper is concerned with the modeling of the transmission of beta rays through thin foils in planar geometry based on the plane source concept, using Monte Carlo simulation of electron transport and least squares fitting. Applications of modeling results for calculating the efficiency of large-area beta sources, transmission coefficient of beta rays through thin foils and the beta detection efficiency of large-area detectors used in surface contamination measurements are also presented.