The mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers and effective electron densities for GAGG:Ce and CaMoO4 scintillators

•The μm, Zeff, and Neff of GAGG and CaMoO4 scintillators have been measured.•The μm, Zeff and Nel of GAGG were higher than CaMoO4 and all values were in good agreement with the theoretical ones.•The values of μm, Zeff and Nel were increased toward decreasing of gamma ray energies.•The partial interactions of the crystals had also been investigated.

In this study, the mass attenuation coefficient (μm), the effective atomic number (Zeff) and the effective electron density (Neff) of Gd3Al2Ga3O12:Ce (GAGG) and CaMoO4 scintillators were measured at different gamma ray energies. The samples were irradiated with eight different photon energies using Compton scattering technique. The scattered photons from 137Cs source were detected by NaI(Tl) scintillation detector in an ordinary counting system. The experimental results were compared with the theoretical (WinXcom) values. The results show that the experimental values ofμm, Zeff and Neff of GAGG are higher than those of CaMoO4 and all values are in good agreement with the theoretical ones. The values ofμm, Zeff and Neff increased toward the decrease of gamma ray energies. The partial interactions of the crystals were also investigated.