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A refined Monte Carlo code for low-energy electron emission from gold material irradiated with sub-keV electrons

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Abstract

Considering the significance of low-energy electrons (LEEs; 0–20 eV) in radiobiology, the sensitization potential of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as high-flux LEE emitters when irradiated with sub-keV electrons has been suggested. In this study, a track-structure Monte Carlo simulation code using the dielectric theory was developed to simulate the transport of electrons below 50 keV in gold. In this code, modifications, particularly for elastic scattering, are implemented for a more precise description of the LEE emission in secondary electron emission. This code was validated using the secondary electron yield and backscattering coefficient. To ensure dosimetry accuracy, we further verified the code for energy deposition calculations using the Monte Carlo toolkit, Geant4. The development of this code provides a basis for future studies regarding the role of AuNPs in targeted radionuclide radiotherapy.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Science Data Bank at https://www.doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.j00186.00062 and http://resolve.pid21.cn/31253.11.sciencedb.j00186.00062.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 211106, China

    Li-Heng Zhou, Tao Sun, Yun-Long Wang & Jun Ma

  2. College of Physics, MIIT Key Laboratory of Aerospace Information Materials and Physics, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 211106, China

    Shui-Yan Cao

  3. School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Jun Ma

Authors
  1. Li-Heng Zhou
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  2. Shui-Yan Cao
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  3. Tao Sun
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  4. Yun-Long Wang
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  5. Jun Ma
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Li-Heng Zhou, Shui-Yan Cao, Tao Sun, Yun-Long Wang, Jun Ma. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Li-Heng Zhou and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Shui-Yan Cao or Jun Ma.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 12004180, 21906083, 11975122, and 22006067), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20190384), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. NE2020006, NS2022095).

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Zhou, LH., Cao, SY., Sun, T. et al. A refined Monte Carlo code for low-energy electron emission from gold material irradiated with sub-keV electrons. NUCL SCI TECH 34, 54 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-023-01204-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-023-01204-4

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