The Direct-Zeff software for direct calculation of mass attenuation coefficient, effective atomic number and effective electron number

•Determination of effective atomic and effective electron number is very important.•The Direct-Zeff software calculates effective atomic and effective electron number.•The Direct-Zeff software calculates for total and partial photon interactions.•Calculations of The Direct-Zeff are in good agreement with experimental results.

Determination of the mass attenuation coefficient, μ/ρ, the effective atomic number, Zeff, and the effective electron number, Neff, is very important in the fields of nuclear diagnostics, radiation protection, nuclear medicine and radiation dosimetry. In this work, the Direct-Zeff software was developed for the computation of the mass attenuation coefficient, the effective atomic number and the effective electron number per unit mass in the energy range 1 keV–100 GeV. The values of the Zeff, Neff and μ/ρ can be determined for total photon interaction with and without coherent interaction as well as partial photon interactions such as coherent scattering, incoherent scattering, photoelectric absorption and pair production by using the Direct-Zeff software. The accuracy of the Direct-Zeff software has been demonstrated by comparing the calculated data and the experimental values for the various materials. The Direct-Zeff software can be freely obtained by contacting with the authors.