ZnO–PbO–B 2 O 3 glasses as gamma-ray shielding materials Harvinder Singh a , Kulwant Singh a , Leif Gerward b, * , Kanwarjit Singh c , Hari Singh Sahota d , Rohila Nathuram e a Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar-143005, Punjab, India b Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Building 307, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark c Department of Applied Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar-143005, India d Department of Physics, Punjabi University, Patiala-147002, India e Radiation Standards Section, RSSD, BARC, Mumbai-400085, India Received 3 December 2002 Abstract Values of the gamma-ray mass-attenuation coefficient, the photon mean free path (MFP), the effective atomic number and the effective electron density have been determined experimentally for xZnO  2xPbO  (1  3x)B 2 O 3 ðx ¼ 0:1–0:26Þ glassesatphotonenergies511,662,1173and1332keVandcomparedwiththeoreticaldata.Thespecific volume of the glasses has been derived from density measurements and studied as a function of composition. It is pointed out that these glasses have potential applications in radiation shielding. Ó 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Non-silicate glasses are of significant commer- cial interest due to their electrical and electronic properties [1,2], and their transmission of infrared light [3]. Addition of boric oxide, B 2 O 3 , which forms a network structure related to the silicates, creates a glass with higher melting point and greater ability to withstand temperature changes. High-density glasses, doped with a rare-earth scintillator, are actively sought for use as detector material in high-energy physics [4]. Radioactive waste disposal, using vitreous solids for contain- ment, is another important application. Hence, radiation damage caused by electrons, alpha par- ticles and gamma rays has been thoroughly in- vestigated [5–7]. The structural and physical properties of PbO glasses are well described by Worrel and Henshell [8]. In previous work, we have studied borate glas- ses containing heavy-metal oxides and shown that they have potential applications in radiation shielding [9–12]. The mass attenuation coefficient, the MFP, the effective atomic number and the electron density are basic quantities for determin- ing the penetration of X-ray and gamma-ray photons in matter. Tabulations of X-ray mass at- tenuation coefficients and interaction cross-sec- tions have been published e.g. by Hubbell and Seltzer [13] for the elements and a number of * Correspondingauthor.Tel.:+45-4525-3146;fax:+45-4593- 2399. E-mail addresses: kulwantsthind@yahoo.com (K. Singh), gerward@fysik.dtu.dk (L. Gerward). 0168-583X/03/$ - see front matter Ó 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0168-583X(03)00462-2 Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 207 (2003) 257–262 www.elsevier.com/locate/nimb