Studies on effective atomic numbers, electron densities from mass attenuation coefficients near the K edge in some samarium compounds

• The effective atomic numbers and electron densities determined for some samarium compounds from total mass attenuation coefficients near the K edge.
• The measurements performed using secondary excitation geometry and a Si(Li) detector.
• The experimental results compared with the theoretical calculation.

The effective atomic numbers and electron densities of some samarium compounds were determined using the experimental total mass attenuation coefficient values near the K edge in the X-ray energy range from 36.847 up to 57.142 keV. The measurements, in the region from 36.847 to 57.142 keV, were done in a transmission geometry utilizing the Kα2, Kα1, Kβ1 and Kβ2 X-rays from different secondary source targets excited by the 59.54 keV gamma-photons from an Am-241 annular source. This paper presents the first measurement of the effective atomic numbers and electron densities for some samarium compounds near the K edge. The results of the study showed that the measured values were in good agreement with the theoretically calculated ones.